


Promises Are Shapers Of Fate

by Inrainbowz



Series: In Any Other World - Malec AU Collection [11]
Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst with a Happy Ending, But nothing detailed, Cause they're like teenagers at first, Developing Relationship, First Meetings, Growing Up, I hope, M/M, Magic Revealed, Major Character Injury, Prince!Alec, Secret Relationship, Villager!Magnus, War, but still, eventually, the happy ending is finally here!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2018-09-08 13:45:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 27,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8847337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inrainbowz/pseuds/Inrainbowz
Summary: 5. King And Villager AUPart 1 - Running off to the woods is the only way young Prince Alexander can have some time to himself. And meet people he shouldn't be meeting.Part 2 - Years later, it takes a war for them to find each other again.Part 3 - All's well that ends well (after some confusion).





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Number 5 from [that list](http://jadeandonyx.tumblr.com/post/114779420062/fanfiction-prompts).
> 
> This was clearly inspired by Merlin. King & Villager + one of them have magic, it had too. Well Alec is a prince now but he'll be king in the second part. Cause yeah, there'll be a second part, I doubt you'll want it to end like it does for now :p Maybe even a third, who knows! Certainly not me. 
> 
> Beware of minor violence and angsty shit. Enjoy!

"Prince Alexander! Prince Alexander, where are you?"

Alec rolled his eyes and continued to walk away from the voices as quietly as possible on the traitorous forest ground. He didn't have anything against Clarissa and Simon, really. Or well, he had, but it was nothing personal. He just hated that he couldn't set foot outside of the castle without a small army behind him. He got that the woods could be dangerous and that as the heir to the throne they couldn't take any chance with his safety, but that didn't mean he had to like it. At least he had managed to negotiate having just them as bodyguards, instead of the four knights that followed him everywhere when he was younger. Clary and Simon were knights in training, but they were close to his age, so better company than Hodge or Luke. And most importantly, they were way easier to lose.

He took a portion of the track that wasn't as well defined as the main path, careful not to step on the leaves that hid it from view. He felt a little guilty for ditching them like this - they were doing their duty, and it wasn't their fault if his parents were paranoid of assassins and warlock attacks. He would make his way back to them soon – he just needed some time alone. He was almost fourteen and among the best fighter of his generation. He could take care of himself.

The voices were growing more and more distant and faint, but just when he thought he was at peace for good, he heard all-too familiar ones join his friends’. He cursed under his breath. The knights had to be patrolling in the area. Just his luck.

He kept going. Between the training, the studying, and the council meeting his parents now wanted him to attend as part of his preparation to his future duties, he barely had any time to himself lately. He just wanted to walk alone in the woods. Enjoy the silence, let his thoughts wander, let go. It didn't happen often and he was determined to make the most of it.

He walked along a trail he had never taken before. The trees were thick but he could see an opening ahead of him, what he hoped was a clearing. He was still trying to make as little sound as possible, so when he reached the clearing, he was surprised to see it wasn't empty, but not surprised that the person hadn't noticed him.

He recognized him as a young man from the village. Alec went as often as possible in town with the knights. He observed the people there, studied their way of life and watched their daily task with great interest. He wanted nothing more than to talk to them, get to know them, connect with others beyond the castle’s court, but he was naturally reserved and even then, his rank and parents’ discipline prevented him from doing so. They believed in clear separation between the commoners and the nobility, and had a pretty low opinion of the villagers in general.

Even if he dared talk to them, what would he say? They would bow, he wouldn't be able to tell respect from fear on their expression, and that would be it. His parents were probably right, they just weren't from the same world.

With that in mind, Alec stayed where he was, observing the man. He was just a few years older than Alec and the young prince recalled he was an apprentice of one of the healers in the village. He had a darker skin than Alec’s family, and slanted eyes. A native of the east then probably, or a descendant at least. He was gathering herbs in the clearing, which confirmed Alec's memory of the boy's position.

He couldn't hear the voices of the knights anymore, so he figured it wouldn't hurt to stay just a little longer. The boy was humming to himself while he worked, oblivious to his audience, and Alec was entranced. It was such a simple scene, something mundane, unimportant, but it was so far from anything he knew that he couldn't help but watch.

Alec was considering leaving discreetly, feeling a little weird for spying on someone like that, when he saw the boy kneel next to a dying wild rose bush, and to his surprise and horror, the boy's hands started to glow. A soft, clear blue light that seemed to come from within his palm and enveloped the bush. The crushed brown leaves perked up, changing gradually to green and healthy ones, and the flowers spun back to life. When the light receded, the bush looked as strong and healthy as the one in the castle's garden, and Alec was frozen in place, heart beating wildly with fear.

The boy was a warlock.

Alec was trying hard to quench his rising panic. There was a warlock in front of him, a warlock who lived in the village, who had for years.

The war on warlock and magic had gotten more and more violent as the years passed. They couldn’t be trusted, they were dangerous, a menace. He didn’t count the number of them he had seen hanged on the main square, how many knights had been injured or killed while chasing them.

And that boy…

That boy Alec had seen laugh with the other apprentice at the herbalist’s shop, and dance around the fire at the summer festival, wander the market with the same bag he had now in hands. Who was singing in the clearing, a smile on his face, as he watched the beautiful roses soak up the sun’s rays. That boy was…

Alec tried to get up and draw his sword, but he tripped on a root, which he was sure wasn’t there before, and rolled on the humid forest ground with a loud noise and undignified cry. He managed to get up quickly, only to realize that his sword laid a few feet behind him, and that the boy was staring at him.

Alec was sure that was how he would met his death. But nothing happened.

Warlocks were demon’s spawn, they relished in chaos, destruction and death. They could manipulate fire, spread diseases. They were liars and murderers, they were a threat.

The boy was looking at him with an amount of terror he had never witnessed before.

He was frozen in place. His hands were up but he wasn’t doing any magic, he wasn’t attacking, he wasn’t even running away. He was motionless, eyes wide and panicked, and every move Alec made, made him flinch and recoil like a frightened animal.

Alec had never induced fear like this, in anyone.

The villagers and the servants in the castle always avoided the gaze of the nobility, tried to stay away from their path and shrunk down were they were shouted at, but they never looked so scared. Alec didn’t understand. The boy certainly had the power to kill him. He was the one who was supposed to be afraid.

They heard noises behind them, of people coming closer, shouting. Alec didn’t take his eyes away from the boy, who looked behind him with frantic gazes, before locking gaze once more.

“Please,” he said quietly. “I don’t want to die.”

Alec was so surprised he let his guard down. The boy was standing straight, posture rigid and face tense, trying to maintain some composure as he was begging for his life.

“Prince Alexander! Prince Alexander!” came the muffled voice of Clary, and Alec saw clearly when the boy understood, when he recognized him. He was sure he was going to die then. What warlock would pass the chance of killing the heir of the kingdom?

But the boy just stood straighter and cast him a heated look.

“You’re the prince,” he said, not really asking, just stating the obvious. Alec gave a short nod and all expression left the boy’s face. He was trying to look brave, Alec understood suddenly, to look dignified and strong, even if he was shaking, even if his eyes were shining. Even if Alec could only see resignation in his eyes, the desperation of someone who’s fate was sealed.

Of course that’s how he felt. He was condemned. Using magic warranted a death sentence, no matter the magic, no matter the age. It had to be this way.

It had to.

Right?

The knights barreled into the clearing, weapons out and ready for a fight, but neither Alec nor the boy looked away from each other. There was so much hatred directed toward Alec, so much pain and regret, and Alec was lost. Why, why was it going this way, what was happening? Why wasn’t he attacking them? He just stood there, in his battered clothes, pressing his bags of herbs and flowers against his chest as if it was going to protect him.

“Prince Alexander, are you alright? We heard you scream,” said Clary while Simon was handing him back his sword.

“It’s nothing, I fell. I’m sorry for getting lost”, he answered, hyperaware of all the eyes fixed on him.

He was right, several knights had joined Clarissa and Simon, including the girl’s father and his friend, the knights Valentine and Luke. Sir Luke was a good man but Alec didn’t like Sir Valentine very much. He didn’t like people who took pleasure in killing, as he was sure the man did.

Said man was making his way towards the boy with a threatening look.

“And who are you?” he asked loudly with a menacing voice. The boy cast a panicked look at Alec.

Alec had never disobeyed his parents. Not once. His parents, his preceptor, no one, never. The full extent of his teenage rebellion consisted in straying away from his guards when he was out in the wood. This was literally the most scandalous thing he had ever done in his life.

He had never questioned the war on warlocks before. He had never batted an eye at seeing strangers cry and scream and curse as a rope was passed around their neck.

He also couldn’t remember the last time he had lied, to anyone. Maybe he had hid things for his parents but…

He wasn’t really thinking, he didn’t know what was happening in his head. But the boy looked at him, that boy who took refuge in the castle’s court during the raids from the next kingdom and the floods, who wore flower on his clothes the first day of spring, like all the others did.

Alec heard his voice like it was someone else’s.

“He’s a healer apprentice from the village. I was just going to ask him the way back to the castle.”

The lie came easy. Easier than anything he had ever said, or done. Nothing showed on the boy’s face. They both looked away, determined not to make eye contact. Sir Valentine backed off carefully with a “alright then” that was almost disappointed, like he had wanted nothing more than to brutalize some teenagers. Alec gritted his teeth but said nothing.

“Let’s go back,” suggested Sir Luke after a tense moment of silence. Alec agreed and turned on his heel to follow him, never looking back even if he wanted nothing more.

“Are you okay?” asked Clary quietly, looking behind them with a worried glance, but still he didn’t turn.

“Yes. Everything’s fine.”

.

Two days later, Alec was back in the same clearing.

It wasn’t planned, wasn’t even really conscious. He had lost Clarissa and Simon, as he always did, and let his feet carry him through the forest. Before he knew it he was back at the edge of the clearing, and the boy was back too.

Which was all kind of stupid, what was he thinking coming back at the same spot again?

He stepped forward. “You shouldn’t have come back here.”

The boy jumped out of his skin and was several feet away in an instant. Alec honestly couldn’t tell if it was magical or not.

“I’m sorry I didn’t… didn’t mean to startle you. It’s just… It’s not very wise. Coming back here.”

Fear let room to anger on the boy’s face. He picked back the satchel he was filling and went back to gathering herbs.

“These herbs can’t be found anywhere else. Should be fine as long as you don’t tell anything,” he grumbled.

“I-I won’t. I swear.”

The boy cast him a surprised look. He abandoned his task to come stand in front of Alec, studying him intently. The young prince squirmed under his scrutinizing glare.

“You saved me, last time,” the boy said in a much softer voice. Alec shrugged.

“You did. I won’t forget it. I’ll repay you someday.”

“It’s not…”

“I will.”

With that the boy went back to his duty. Alec stood motionless, not knowing what to do. He wasn’t about to pass this opportunity though.

“I’m-I’m Alec.”

The boy scoffed and Alec felt his cheek reddened.

“Yeah, I know,” he answered with a mocking tone. Alec waited, but it looked like he wasn’t going to say anything more.

“What’s your name?”

The boy stood up abruptly. “What are you doing here?” he asked, anger rising in his voice. Alec took a step back, startled.

“I just… I…”

“Aren’t you the idiotic one to come back here? Don’t you know what I am? I could very well kill you.”

Alec frowned.

“You can’t. You owe me.”

The boy raised his arms and rolled his eyes like he honestly couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“I’m not afraid of you,” Alec added, defiant.

“Well you should be!”

“Oh yeah? What are you going to do?”

The angry boy just thrust his hands forward and muttered something under his breath. His hand caught fire.

Alec let out a startled cry and jumped forward, panicked.

"What are you doing? You’re going to hurt yourself!"

The fire died down in an instant and they were left staring at each other. The boy seemed appealed, even more so when Alec grabbed his hand to check for injuries. He was surprised to find none.

"I'm a warlock making warlock fire. It's not going to hurt me," piped the boy, sounding strangely soft and even a little amused.

Alec stepped back with a sheepish smile, embarrassed. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"That's... that's good then."

Alec didn't look up until his eyes were drawn by the light coming from the boy's hand - they were on fire again, although it was more subdued, probably because he wasn’t trying to scare him anymore. Alec couldn't help but get closer, drawn to the glowing flames coming to life in the boy's palms.

"I know, I'm awesome," the warlock said proudly. Alec rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. It was true.

"I never thought... I mean..."

He didn't know how to say it. He had never stopped and considered that magic could be so harmless, so beautiful. The fire was unnatural, dancing in a swirl of too bright colors, and it was the most fascinating things Alec had ever seen.

The boy drew back his hands sharply. Alec blinked, surprised, and found him looking angry again, defensive.

"What? That magic wouldn't try to kill you on the spot?" the boy accused. Alec flinched.

"N-No but... Magic... Magic is..."

"What? Evil? Dangerous? Mortal, a crime? Yeah sure, because brewing potion to cure diseases and doing spells to clean dirty water is so sinful, really people should be hanged for it!"

Alec stepped back as the boy stepped forward. He was getting angrier as the words stumbled out of his mouth and Alec was afraid he was going to hit him. He wasn’t about to get treated like that though.

"Yeah, because no warlock ever did any wrong, they’re just persecuted so unfairly they never killed anyone, ambushed knights in the woods or slipped into the castle to try and murder me and my family!"

The boy wasn’t expecting him to answer back. His frown deepened.

"I never did anything like that!"

"Well you could!"

"So what? You could kill people too with your swords, so why aren’t you and any other knights locked up?"

Alec opened his mouth to reply but find himself at a loss.

"That's... that's a good point."

"Just because some of us are evil and bad doesn’t mean we all are! Why should we all get punished for their misdeeds? How is that justice, how is that fair?"

"You can't blame us for being afraid of so much power!

"I WAS BORN THIS WAY!”

Alec jumped but Magnus didn’t even looked at him. He paced, worked up by an argument he must have had many times in his mind. “Is it my fault? Why do I have to pay for that? I didn’t ask for it! I didn't have a choice! I was born a criminal because of you!"

He stabbed his fingers in Alec's chest who didn't take the time to ponder over the fact that no one had ever treated him with such disrespect. He was too worked up to care.

"You shouldn't use it then!"

"Of course you'd say that, but what do you know? How would you feel if I told you you should keep your eyes shut at all time even if you can see, or crawl even if you can walk? Magic is part of me. It comes to me as does breathing, hearing, talking. Why should I deny it? I never did any wrong. I'm not guilty."

"Well you..."

"Well, what do we have here?"

The two boys turned at the same time to the edge of the clearing. Alec's body tensed all over, he blanched. Two men were emerging from the woods, sword in hands their clothes ragged and their long hair and beard dirty. They looked at them like they were a first meal after days of hunger.

Bandits.

Alec drew his sword and went to stand in front of the other boy, cursing their foolishness and bad luck. Or course their... discussion would attract people lurking around. Clarissa and Simon were nowhere to be seen, but Alec could take on two untrained men by himself.

They got closer but Alec was distracted by the boy by his side who raised his hands, a dark expression on his face. Alec elbowed him, panicked. "What do you think you're doing? Do you want to die?"

The boy shot him a surprised look. Unfortunately it was enough to distract them from the more important issue at hand. The boy shouted out a warning and Alec barely had the time to counter one of the man's first blow. He almost wavered but managed to push him back, only to have the second one launch himself at him. Fortunately, for him, they had no real knowledge of sword fighting – it took only a few moves to slash the man’s abdomen. When he turned to deal with the other one, the man decided it was a better idea to grab his friend and run through the trees.

He focused back on the boy to boast a little but was surprised to see him looking angrier than ever.

"What?"

"You're hurt, you idiot!" the boy shouted, pointing at his arm. Alec followed the accusing finger to find blood seeping through the fabric of is shirt, between his shoulder and elbow.

Only then did the pain registered in his mind. And, oh, well. It hurt.

"It hurts," he said dumbly, a bit disoriented. How hadn't he noticed? Everything had happened so fast, but still, it was all kind of stupid. His instructors would give him hell for this.

"Let me help you," the boy said. Alec flinched away from his hands.

"No! What if someone sees you? Seriously, can you be any more reckless than you are? You have to be careful! You could get killed!"

"Why do you care!"

Alec just glared at him, but the effect were somewhat dimmed by him wincing in pain. The wound wasn't deep by any mean but it still stung. The boy softened.

"Besides, I meant regular help. I do work for the village's healer you know," he mocked, even if it held less heat than it could have.

"Ah. Yeah, I... I know. Okay. Please, then," Alec answered awkwardly. They sat down in the grass and the boy started working with practiced ease, cleaning the wound with a cloth from his satchel before applying some healing cream and bandaging his arm.

"Do you always carry all that with you?" Alec asks, curious.

"Have too, you see, I might need it."

Alec didn't dare ask anymore questions. He was annoyed at the boy being so rude but he couldn't really fault him either. They weren't friends, quite the opposite, and they were in this situations because of Alec in the first place.

Still, he didn't have to be so mean. He didn't know why it bothered him so much.

"All set."

"Thank you."

They got up and dusted their clothes in a tense silence. Alec was looking for something to say, but nothing came to him that wouldn't spark another argument.

"You saved me again," the boy stated to break the silence. Somehow it still sounded like a reproach. Alec frowned.

"Whatever," he grumbled, picking up his sword to put it back in its sheath. He could hear Clarissa and Simon again, which mean his alone time was up, and he had spent it arguing with a stranger and getting attacked.

"I'm Magnus."

Alec blinked. The boy was looking sideway, scolding.

"What?"

"My name. It's Magnus, Magnus Bane."

"Oh. I'm Alexander Lightwood."

"Yeah, I know."

 Alec frowned at the sarcastic tone and the other boy looked at least a bit apologetic.

"I'd better get going before they call the knights on me again," Alec commented as his friends’ voice echoed towards them.

"You won't... you won't tell, right?"

At that moment Alec saw again the boy from last time, putting up a brave front not to show he was terrified. He hated it. He wanted to convince him he had nothing to fear from him, but how could he? They had no reason to trust each other. The simple fact that they were just talking right now was ground breaking enough.

"I won't. I promise."

Magnus looked at him with a strange expression before thrusting his hand at him. Alec blinked again, confused.

"Swear?"

There was challenge in his voice, meaning. He didn't take it lightly. Well, Alec didn’t either. He shook his hand.

"I swear."

He swore he felt something then, something passing between them, through their linked hands, but it was gone as soon as Magnus draw back his hands so he ignored it.

"Goodbye then," he concluded with an awkward wave before turning back. Magnus didn't answer but he felt his gaze on his back while he walked away, and all the way to the castle.

.

It was true this clearing was the best spot to find healing herbs. Magnus was almost certain it had actually been created and nurtured by warlocks once, because a wide variety of plants grew there that didn’t grow anywhere else in the forest. He was always the one on herbs duty for some reason, so he came often.

It was true, but it was also true that they didn’t really need any more supply for now, and he was still back in the clearing.

The young prince intrigued him. Magnus couldn’t pretend he had a good sense of self-preservation – the other boy had been right about that. His friends accused him often enough of being reckless, but he hated having to hide. He was unapologetic about his magic, or well, he wanted to be. He wasn’t suicidal though, no matter what Ragnor said. 

He was very curious, that much was true. He had to admit at least that, as he made his way through the woods, trying to convince himself that he wasn’t going on the off chance that he would meet the prince again. And now he was back at the clearing. And the prince was there.

Magnus hid behind a tree to spy. The prince was laying on the grass, carefully angled so that his whole body was warmed by the spring sunlight. He had removed his shoes and his eyes were closed. He looked peaceful.

It pissed Magnus off.

He approached a little to be at hearing range. “And I’m the one not careful enough?”

He snickered as he witnessed the prince spring up on his feet with a clumsy urgency. He had his sword and his guard up by the time he realized who had disturbed him. His expression, a mix of anger and embarrassment, was priceless.

“We were attacked here three days ago and here you are sleeping on the ground,” Magnus went on, arms crossed and posture judging. The prince gathered his things with unintelligible mumbling before facing him again.

“We were attacked because you couldn’t shut your mouth. You’ve been coming here a long time and doing magic without care. I figured the place was safe enough then.”

Magnus frowned, annoyed, because it was true. Part of its magical charm was that no one ever seemed to find that place. Ordinary travelers and passerby never saw it, and that was why Magnus was so surprised and curious the prince had stumbled upon it so easily.

Last he knew, the heir to the throne of Idris wasn’t a witch.

“I’m the one who couldn’t shut his mouth?” he said loudly. The prince cast him a pointed glare, one eyebrow raised as to say “see who’s shouting again?” Magnus scolded.

“What are you doing here?”

The prince just shrugged.

“It’s not often I get to get some peace and quiet away from the castle. I like it here.”

“Well it’s my spot. I don’t care for disturbing you,” Magnus said petulantly. He sounded childish and obnoxious even to his own ears and to the prince’s too, judging by his expression.

“I didn’t say anything. I don’t care what you do,” the prince retorted before sitting back on the grass. He pulled out some bread from his bag and started to munch angrily, looking purposefully away from Magnus.

The older boy sighed. Searching for a way to start the conversation again, his eyes fell on the prince’s arm.

“How’s your injury?”

The prince’s brow hitched in confusion for a second. “Oh! It’s fine. You... you did a great job.”

“I’m good at what I do.”

“Modest too.”

“Did these guys get arrested then?”

Again the prince looked confused. “What?”

“The men who attacked us. Surely the knight went after them? For daring to raise a hand against the prince or something.”

The prince scoffed.

“Of course not. I didn’t tell anyone.”

“What? Why?”

“If my parents get wind that I got hurt while out in the woods, they’ll forbid me to go out again. Plus it would fall back on my knights who are supposed to look after me. I don’t want to cause them trouble. They were just petty thieves anyway. They’ll get caught sooner or later, if the one I stabbed didn’t die already…”

He seemed upset over that fact, for whatever strange reason.

“And still you came back. No wonder your parents don’t trust you on your own.”

“I told you I felt safe here. And my parents don’t trust me anyway, or anyone for that matter.”

“Must be so hard.”

The Prince shook his head with a sigh. He got to up again, careful not to cross Magnus's eyes.

"You’re right, it was a bad idea. I'll go. "

"Oh come on, don't be so touchy. Stay."

"I can't. My time is up, I have to go back, and you probably have work to do. I'll leave you to it."

"When will you be back?"

Alec frowned unhappily.

"Never, don't worry, I'll find somewhere else. Sorry to bother you, goodbye."

"Wait!"

Racking his brain, Magnus asked the first thing that came to this mind, the thing that had been plaguing his thoughts ever since their fateful encounter.

"Why did you lie? Why didn't your report me? I spent two days without sleeping, waiting for the guard to storm the healer’s shop and arrest me, but no one came. You said nothing. Why?"

That was the real reason why he had come back to the clearing. He had thought about it again and again but he couldn't figure it out, it made no sense. That boy was the prince of Idris. It made no sense.

"I don't know," the prince said cautiously. "I don't know. I didn't think. I just didn't want you to die then. It didn't seem fair."

"Fair? And what about all the witches hanged on the main square? What was fair about their death?"

"I... I don't know either. I can't tell you anything more. You looked at me and... Never had anyone looked so scared of me before.

"I wasn't scared."

"You thought you were going to die. It was such an absolute certainty, so inevitable, and it would be my fault. I think that's what did the trick. When you commit a crime, you are convicted, because a crime had been committed and so the guilty must pay. But there was no crime then, nothing but my words. It seemed so absurd then, what would I have said? Kill him, he makes flowers grow. It seemed so absurd.

"You don't know, maybe I did kill with magic before.

"Yeah, maybe. But then maybe anyone I pass in the street or in the castle has killed with a sword and got away with it. You didn't... there was no crime."

"Magic is a crime. It's the law."

"Well maybe the law is wrong."

There, he had said it. The prince had said, "the law is wrong". It was so strange, so unreal, to be there in the forest talking with this boy like he wasn’t the prince of the realm and responsible for his torments. But it could do good. The boy would be king someday and then maybe...

"I have to go."

"You can come back here. If you'd like."

They stared at each other. Magnus wasn't sure what exactly passed between then, but there was something for sure. Then he was gone.

.

“It’s your fault!”

“No it’s not!”

“It’s your fault, you and your father, and mother, and all your fucking family.”

“I’m not my father. My father won’t be king forever. I’ll be king someday.”

“And so what?”

“So I’d change the law then.”

“You… why would you do that?”

“I… I don’t think it’s fair, I don’t think it’s just. I can’t do anything for now but I… I will. So that you, and your friends, you won’t have to hide, won’t have to be scared.”

“I don’t… I don’t believe you!”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll do it anyway.”

“You will?”

“Yeah.”

“Even if we’re not friends anymore?”

“Yeah.”

“Even if I’m dead?”

“Yeah.”

“You promise?”

“Yeah. I promise. I promise, Magnus.”

.

“Hey, Alexander.”

“Hey.”

“What is it?”

“I just… Could you call me Alec?”

“Why?”

“Alexander is so… And no one wants to… It’s… nothing. It’s nothing.”

“So tell me Alec, what has your royal ass been up to?”

.

“I don’t like when you do magic.”

“Well, thanks, but I do what I want, I don’t care what you think.”

“That’s not… I like seeing it. But you shouldn’t be so careless. What if you got caught? I couldn’t do anything for you.”

“I won’t get caught.”

“But what if you do?”

“I won’t.”

“I can’t watch you die.”

“Alec, please calm down. I won’t. I promise.”

.

“What about your parents?”

“What about them?”

“You live with the healer right? Where are they?”

“They’re dead.”

“Sorry.”

“My mother killed herself because of what I am and my father tried to kill me. So I killed him, and then I ran away.”

“That’s…”

“So you see, I did kill with magic after all. You should have reported me.”

“Magnus…”

“I’m the monster you see? Just like you thought.”

“Magnus! Stop. Come here. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“You should hate me.”

“No I shouldn’t. I’m sorry. You’re not a monster.”

“I don’t want you to hate me. You should, but I don’t want to.”

“I don’t, I don’t Magnus, I could never.”

“You promise?”

“I do. What about you?”

“What?”

“Could you? Hate me?”

“Never. I swear.”

.

“You weren’t there yesterday.”

“Sorry, couldn’t get out. I was the center of the attention.”

“Why?”

“It was my sixteenth birthday.”

“Oh. Happy birthday Alec.”

“Thank you.”

“I always forget we’re almost the same age. Sorry, I don’t have anything for you.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Still. Had I known, I would have brought you something.”

“Don’t worry about it. I already received more than I could ever need, and most of it I couldn’t care less about.”

“Poor prince, receiving too much gifts, must be hard.”

“That’s not… forget it.”

“Sorry.”

“You know, there is something you could give me.”

“I thought you had enough?”

“Not… not a gift. Not really. Something only you can give me.”

“What?”

“A-a kiss.”

“…I’m not the only one who can give you that.”

“Yes you are.”

“No I’m not.”

“Well you’re the only one I want it from.”

A kiss then.

.

“I’ll be eighteen soon.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I’ll have to marry. A woman.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“…I don’t want to.”

“Yeah. I know.”

.

“Don’t fall in love with me.”

“I know.”

“I’m serious. It won’t end well. We can’t.”

“I know.”

“Just don’t.”

“I won’t, I swear.”

.

(Promises are easily broken)

.

Magnus walked back from the wood heavier and more worried than usual. He had always been careful not to think about the future, to keep Alec and the two of them hidden in the woods, nowhere else in his life. He’d been a fool to believe he could protect his heart though, that it could end with anything but heartache. Every time he tried to tell him that this had to stop, or simply not to go at all, but he couldn’t. He was too weak to deny Alec, deny himself.

He was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t notice Catarina running toward him. She slammed into him violently enough that he almost ended up flat on the road, but he didn’t have the time to scold her – she was bawling, obviously in a panic, and she didn’t notice, or couldn’t care less.

“Cat, what it is? What happened?” he asked as gently as he could despite his rising panic. He knew, before she answered, he knew to his core what she was going to say. It was just a matter of who.

“It’s Ragnor.”

Magnus lost his breath.

.

He was pacing the clearing, uncaring of the flowers rising and dying under his feet, his magic as unstable as he felt. He had spent all day and night trying to reassure the other apprentice of the healer – all of them witches, all of them scared to death. How had Ragnor managed to get caught? On top of worrying about the man presently locked up in the castle's jail, he had to consider the fact that if the healer was discovered, it could mean that all those he trained and sheltered could be too. Torturing witches so that they would rattle out their friends wasn't unheard of, and even without it... There would be an investigation surely, they would come knock to his door and ask them if they knew, and Magnus could lie to God himself but it wasn't the case of all the other apprentices. It was a nightmare.

"Magnus!"

In spite of everything, the sight of Alec running toward him in the clearing had the power to calm him down. He went to meet him, to hide in his embrace, and finally let go, after keeping such a tight leash around his emotions so that the others wouldn't see him break down. He clung to Alec's shirt, pressed his nose in his neck and finally he could breath, finally he could rest, center himself. His magic quieted down to, appeased.

"Are you alright?" Alec asked against his ear, a hand stroking his hair lightly. Magnus mumbled an affirmative before pulling back, trying to get composed.

"You have to help him."

Alec looked lost, helpless and scared, even more than the apprentices, and Magnus felt something break inside of him at the realization that he would do no such thing.

"Magnus..."

"No, you have to, you have to do something. You know he's like a brother to me. He has half a dozen of witches in his care and protection. You have to."

"I can't! I have no voices at the court, no power. My father won't listen to me, and what would I tell him anyway? The healer has been caught red handed. There is nothing to do."

Alec tried to reach out but Magnus took a step back, avoiding his extending hand.

"Ragnor was the most careful of us all. He's been hiding for decades. How could he have slipped out? Who said, who talked?"

None of the others had been able to tell him. They were all out running errands when Ragnor had been arrested, Catarina had just seen him being taken away.

"There... there was an incident. The daughter of the blacksmith, the youngest, she... She tried to climb the porch of the healer’s shop. She was on the roof when she tripped, she would have bashed her skull against the pavement and... He stopped it. Maybe the villagers would have kept it quiet but there was some knights in the streets... They arrested him on the spot."

Magnus’s head was reeling. Suspicion were enough to grant them the rope sometimes, so there was nothing to say about actual magic witnessed.

"Doesn't it matter that he was saving a child?"

"Not... Not to my father, no. It's the law."

"The law! To hell with your law, with your father, with your damn family!"

Alec froze where he was trying to approach him again, to kill the distance between them, a few steps that seemed as wide as an ocean.

"It's your fault... why can't we live in peace? What did we ever do to you?"

"Magnus..."

"Don't say my name! I hate you, do you hear me? I hate you!"

His magic was crackling at his fingertips, agitated by his fury. Alec look scared of him for the first time since their very first meeting.

"I can't... I'll just be locked up with him if I try to defend him. I'm so sorry, Magnus, there’s nothing I can do, I'm sorry, please..."

"If you can't help him, then what’s the point of you Alexander? What’s the point of this?" Magnus asked with a broken voice, eyes overflowing with tears he stubbornly held onto, refusing to meet Alec's gaze.

"Magnus..."

"Leave. I don't want to see you ever again. Just leave!" he screamed. Magic rushed toward Alec and knocked him down. By the time he had managed to get back on his feet Magnus had fled.

.

"Ragnor Fell, you are accused of using witchcraft. By the law of this kingdom, your sentence is death. Does anyone here contest this decision?"

Silence on the courtyard. All eyes trained on the loose loop of the rope hanging above the condemned man's head.

"Do you have any last words?"

He doesn't meet anyone's gaze. He speaks to the sky.

"Be kind."

A single scream accompanies his fall before both are cut by the rope.

.

Alec spends his days in the forest, but he never finds the clearing again. Neither would have Magnus had he tried, but he doesn't go back anyway.

(Promises are easily broken.)

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, nice. I love those kind of things. Angst and betrayal and yelled "I hate you". Good stuff. 
> 
> Second part may take a while to come out, I also have to work on my diploma at some point, but it'll come!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Years later, it takes a war for them to meet again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't realize the first part was so long ago... I'm very sorry for the delay. But hey, here is part two! Thing is I went completely overboard, so it's 10k long and just like my Romeo & Juliet AU, it will have an unplanned and unannounced part three! Yeeeaaahh... It's mostly written though so there won't be a nine month wait this time haha (I'm ashamed). 
> 
> For those of you reading my WIP, I'm also very late on that front, but the next one will come. Soon. I hope. ANYWAY, enjoy!

Alec stared at his reflection in the tall mirror of his room. He hated the image he saw, hated the stern, serious man that looked back at him, the hard lines of his face and the steel in his gaze. It had been only seven years since he had taken his father’s place on the throne after his death, but it felt like twenty. Some days as he assessed his reflection he couldn’t help but feel like a fraud, like a boy dressing up as his father, wearing a too big crown, a too long coat, and carrying a too heavy sword.

It didn’t change the fact that he was the king anyway, and that he had to act as such. He sighed a deep, worn out sigh, before standing up and scowling his features, erasing the traces of doubts and weariness from his face, before stepping outside of his room.

Jace was waiting by the door as always. They nodded at each other, and Alec took small comfort in knowing that Jace got his need to stay serious and reserved as soon as he stepped into his king’s costume, and didn’t take offense at his coldness when they were acting as king and commander.

Besides, today's ordeal was crucial, and its outcome uncertain. Even Jace had to feel more pressured than usual.

Alec certainly did, but not entirely for the reasons his brother might have suspected.

"When will they be there?" he asked Jace as they were making their way to the council room. Alec held most of the government's meetings there – he hated the throne room, where he sat above all the others, and avoided it as much as he could. He liked the round table of the council room better, with its central pit where a fire could be lit on the coldest day, and where he had a clear view of all his interlocutors. Jace sat at his right and Izzy at his left, and it made him feel less vulnerable in front of his many duties.

“We still have a couple of hours,” Jace answered, with a tone that suggested he disagreed with Alec’s absurd earliness. He ignored it. He felt restless and nervous, there was no way he would be able to distract himself, to think about anything else than the day’s meeting.

“Any news from Morgenstern?”

Jace made a face but answered professionally, “No change He's still camping at the border with his men but he doesn't look like he'll be moving anytime soon.”

“And his propagandists?”

“They keep appearing as we arrest them. I don’t know where he finds those guys, but he has plenty to spare.”

“Are they steering troubles?”

"Not as much as we feared, still enough to be worrisome. But there have been no words of canceling the meeting, so at least the witches are still willing to hear us out.”

In all this mess, Alec could take a small measure of comfort in noticing that Jace didn’t have that much trouble with the word “witches” anymore. He was able to say it without his mouth twisting in a derisive turn, and be it because he had finally come around to the idea or had just trained himself to control his expressions, it was a small victory in Alec’s book.

Jace, Izzy, and a few of their trusted friends had all helped at the beginning of his reign, as he battled his father’s supporters and advisors and slowly but patiently pushed them all out one by one, to form a council of people close to him, that he could trust and rely on. Yet the biggest trial for him hadn’t been the succession, but, a few years down the road, his determination to abolish the ban against magic in his kingdom.

It had been a trial for all of them actually, a great test on the strength of their bond and the loyalty of his people. Jace and Izzy had pretty much stood at each end of the spectrum on this – his sister giving her full support while his brother stayed firmly against it. But he had won him over, him and all the others. In the end they had been the most difficult to convince, because when the law had finally been acted, it had been met with great support by the people. Old prejudices and conservatism ran far deeper in the upper classes than the lower – obviously they had underestimated the acquaintances of the common people with witches.

It had been a long, tiring process, and one they hadn’t even been able to fully enjoy once it was over. Alec felt a burst of anger overtake his mind, as always when he thought about their current situation. All his hard work was in danger of being negated, and it would more or less be sealed at this meeting.

For the first time in hundreds of years, witches would be guests of the king in his castle, and it was to discuss war.

It was so frustrating. The ban had been repelled more than a year ago, but it didn’t mean they had suddenly started wandering the streets using magic as they pleased. He had always intended to reach out to the magical community once things had settled down a bit, but this had to be rushed due to the circumstances. He regretted waiting for so long now. If only he had received the witches early, before trouble arose, he would have had a better chance to convince them of helping him. But now…

There was no need to worry before he had effectively talked to them. He had to remain hopeful. Everything depended on it.

"Would you at least eat something while we wait?" Jace inquired with a stern tone that reminded Alec of their mother. He knew better than to tell him that though. Since Clary had given birth to their first child – and relieved everyone’s mind from the worries of succession – Jace had transformed into a monster of parental care, far worse than his wife. He was almost to the point he would pack extra scarves and fur for his brother when they were out in the cold. It amused his siblings and his wife to no end of course, but they were careful to make fun of him out of his earshot, lest he would give them a lecture on parenthood and how it changed a man.

Alec agreed, knowing Jace wouldn’t stop bugging him otherwise. Jace called for some food to be brought in the council room, and they ate quietly some fruits with bread and cheese on the meeting table, more worried and apprehensive than either of them wanted to admit. Alec had to force himself – his throat felt closed off, constricted, and his stomach was in tight knots. Too much depended on this meeting for him to relax.

And to his great shame, he wasn’t solely concerned about the fate of his kingdom and his people, but also consumed with far more mundane and selfish matters.

He wondered if Magnus would be there.

He had never told anyone. He had advocated for the decriminalization of magic users without ever revealing why exactly the subject was so dear to him. He wanted to believe he would have eventually even had he never known Magnus, but he couldn’t deny it all started there. It was knowing him that made him realized how vital this was, how it couldn’t be accepted anymore to hunt and kill them just for who they were born as. All those close to him could attest of his will, but they had all wondered at some point why he had pushed so hard for this measure to be adopted. The witches would wonder too, and the question had become more potent because of Morgenstern. It would have to be addressed.

Would Magnus be there? Why was it so important right now? He had other matters to focus on. But he could seldom choose where his mind decided to wander, and it wandered back to Magnus and their time together, as it always did, regardless of the gravity of the situation. 

He wondered where he was and what he was doing. If he was safe, if he was happy. If he was still living in the downtown or if he had left, moved far away, never to return. He supposed he could have known, could have had him investigated by the spies under whatever motives, but he had never dared. What would he do with this information? If he was still there, he would have had to fight against the temptation of seeking him out, and if he had left… For this matter, contrary to every else, Alec preferred to live with the possibilities rather than the certitudes.

“How many of them are coming?” Alec asked, more to fill the tense silence than to hear information he already knew. Jace indulged.

“We’re not sure, but probably between five and ten. The one we spoke with, Catarina Loss, seemed to be our liaison by circumstances more than proper hierarchy. They don’t really have a structure.”

Alec nodded. He knew that already. Witches tended to stick together and had members of their communities more prominent than others, but nothing resembling a leader or a figure of authority. Only power gave them titles – they called High Witches and Warlock those of them who were particularly skilled and powerful.

He had heard it all from Magnus, once upon a time, in what felt like another life entirely.

A knock on the heavy wooden door cut Alec’s questions and thoughts. It was Izzy.

“They’re here.”

Alec and Jace nodded and stood up to greet the party properly. After their sister came a dozen people of all ages, from teenagers to elderly. Men and women, natives and foreigners – a mismatched group, whose only common point was their abilities.

They didn’t look especially pleased to be there. It was fine. Alec couldn’t say he was either.

“Welcome everyone. Please, take place, we have a lot to discuss.”

Izzy had sent for drinks and more food to be brought in. It could never hurt, even if seeing his guests sniffing suspiciously at what was offered to them was never pleasant. As if he’d poison people like a traitor. The people he killed, he did with a sword, facing them.

“I have long wished to speak with you,” he said, not knowing who to address so choosing to let his gaze wander from face to face until one decided to talk. It didn’t take long.

“And yet you chose to do it precisely at this moment,” answered a handsome young man with dark hair and a frosty expression at his right. Alec masked a wince – right into the touchy subject then.

“It was always my intention to invite you here and I would have regardless of the help I now need from you.”

He would be straightforward too then. The timing was too perfect for him to convince them that their invitation had nothing to do with the new threat caused by Morgenstern, especially if he was to seek their help during the meeting. He preferred honesty anyway, when he could afford it.

“So this is what it is about,” sighed a woman at the other side of the table like she had hoped it wouldn’t be.

“I’m afraid it is, and I regret it as much as you do, but I’m left with little choice here. I suppose you heard what happened with Count Morgenstern and the accusations thrown at me. I would like for you to hear it from me, as I try to be as factual as possible. I won’t demand anything from you. You didn’t agree to anything by showing up here, I’m just grateful for the opportunity to convince you of my goodwill.”

They still looked suspicious and wary, but a white-haired, calm-looking woman, the only one who didn’t look completely murderous, gestured him to go on.

"I have been working on repealing the magical ban for years, way before Sir Morgenstern took arms against me. I know it is said, and maybe you believe, that I decided to grace you all so that you could help in the upcoming conflict, but I assure you it was the other way around. He was always dissident, but this motion was the final straw. He decided to move against me because I wouldn’t be swayed on this matter, when he wanted the war on witches to toughen.”

“And yet he went and asked the support of a nation notoriously hiring witches for their army,” said the young man. Alec nodded in agreement but said nothing. He couldn’t pretend to understand that particular train of thought, although he supposed Morgenstern didn’t care by what means exactly he reached his goals – he could always turn on his new allies later. Allies that probably closed their eyes on his twisted views because of the opportunity of annexing a kingdom they had never seen eye to eye with.

“Is that what you want then?” asked the young man after a pause. “Witches in your army?”

“What I want is to protect my country and its people from being invaded, pillaged and butchered. I have soldiers to go against soldiers and knights to go against knights. But we will be powerless against magic in battle without help. We don’t have information about the kind of powers they wage but…”

“We do.”

Alec stared at the woman who had talked. She had dark skin and darker hair and was among the youngest of the group, but she looked fierce and determined, and she glared down at her own when they tried to silence her.

“We know them. You need not to concern yourself with that. But how can we trust you? From our point of view, and what his people are saying, Sir Morgenstern is the one who will free us, and you the one who would only take advantage of our power.”

“I know,” Alec conceded. He had to grant that to Morgenstern, it was a clever move. No doubt the man had thought about it, about how it would look from the people and the witches side. That was why he was sending his messengers all throughout the kingdom, to spread the words that Alec was a traitor and Valentine Morgenstern, their savior.

“What you have is only words,” the young woman went on. “Who is to say you won’t turn on us as soon as your war is won and your enemies defeated, that you won’t go back on your words?”

“I am.”

This time all heads turned toward a man standing at the back of the room, and Alec spared a thought on the fact that he had probably done something to conceal himself, because there was no way Alec wouldn’t have noticed him. And yet here he was, appearing seemingly out of thin air, walking to the front of the crowd as they parted with puzzled but respectful expressions.

“I am putting weight on his words,” said Magnus Bane to his people without looking at the king.

“How is that so?” asked the young man with a suspicious look on his face. Magnus looked at them each.

“We have met before.”

His tone was commanding, preventing further questions, at least for now. Whatever their doubts, it was enough to sway the group – at once they didn’t look so hostile. Alec tried to figure out if there were some among them that seemed to know what Magnus was talking about, but if he had told any of them, they didn’t let it show.

Maybe he had just kept it all to himself, like Alec had. A secret to be buried with them, without anyone ever knowing about it.

But that secret was just there for anyone to see. For the first time in over ten years he was within reach of his voice, of his touch, and Alec wanted so badly to cross the few steps between them, to confirm he was truly there, something he had trouble believing. He couldn’t though. Now was not the time, it probably never would be. This chance had passed, it was over.

Alec stayed focused on Magnus and ignored the questioning looks of his siblings, knowing they would interrogate him later. Magnus had turned his back on him and Alec sensed he was now out of the conversation. The witches weren’t talking much but they seemed to convey a lot between them, silently debating on their decision.

Eventually the white-haired woman stepped forward.

“We will have to discuss that, if it is alright with you. If we decide to help in your war, we will demand guarantees, for our safety and our rights. Will we be received again? Regardless of our answer?”

“You have my word. And please believe that you are free in this matter. I won’t force your hands, and there won’t be any reprisal, should you chose to keep out of it. But keep in mind this… this is not my war. If I can avoid leading my army into battle, I will. I only mean to protect my own, and this means you too. Valentine will turn against witches, he will try to hurt you. Whether you chose to help or not doesn’t mean the fight won’t come to you either way.”

What had he done to bring war on his kingdom under ten years into his reign? Upset the established order essentially, tried to change the old ways. He was lucky he didn’t have to deal with a civil uprising on top of it all, which Morgenstern had threatened would happen if the law was to be changed in favor of the witches. Alec guessed he must have been enraged, to see the people take the news so well. Enraged enough to turn to their enemies to right this.

He could tell they were surprised by his words, and he supposed he couldn’t fault them for that. He hoped Magnus had as much influence as he seemed to have on them, so he could speak on his behalf. Without it there was no way they would trust a word he said. He had to believe Magnus remembered at least some of the promises Alec had made.

But would he? Magnus had broken some of his own. Alec couldn’t think of anything other than that last day in the clearing, Magnus’s tear strained face, screaming his disgust and hate. It had haunted him for many sleepless nights, still did. How could he ask anything from the man then?

And yet when they all exited the room, Magnus was the last to leave, ushering the others outside, and Alec was facing away from the door, but he could feel his presence like a physical pull, urging him to turn, to look at him, to go after him. He watched him at the corner of his eyes – Magnus did the same. For a second it felt almost as if their gaze were meeting.

Then Jace called out to him and Magnus stepped out. They hadn’t crossed eyes once.

.

“What was that about?” Jace had asked hours ago as soon as the witches had left the council room. But there had been other matters to discuss then, and Alec could make himself unavailable if he wanted to avoid something at all cost. But it was late now, the duties of the days were over and dealt with, and there was no way Jace and Izzy were going to let go of this matter. It had to drive them crazy, to wonder how he could be acquainted with someone they had never seen or heard of, a commoner, a wizard.

But he couldn’t picture talking openly about that right now, about Magnus and him, something that had forged a large part of who he was and that he had never told to anyone, ever. They wouldn’t be pleased. They would be angry and hurt, and he couldn’t deal with their feelings on top of his own right now.

So he was fixated on polishing his sword, his back turned to his siblings and ignoring them firmly. He could picture them trying to contain their impatience, communicating silently so that one of them would say the first word. They had to know the subject was delicate, far more delicate than they had initially thought.

“We used to meet in the forest when we were teenagers. We grew close. That’s all I’ll say on the matter.”

“Oh come on Alexander, you can’t just...”

“I said that’s all. Leave it.”

Sometimes he hated what being a king had done to him. No matter how close they were, there would always be this distance between him and his siblings, this blurred line between family and duty, between their instinct to go against him and their vows to obey him. It was a balance he had trouble keeping – sometimes he allowed for their insubordination and teasing, sometimes he shut them down. With time they had learned to walk that line better but it still strained their relationship at times.

He could feel their urge to push, to keep asking. A few years ago, they would have. Jace would have, at least. But ruling hadn’t been kind on either of them. They were older now. Wiser, maybe, or just wearier, more prone to let go than to fight.

He wouldn’t say anything more. He had kept it a secret for ten years, memories for him alone to cherish and try not to forget, and he would keep doing so as long as he lived. He had promised anyway, and Magnus wouldn’t want it to come out in the open now. It was a long time ago. Surely he had moved on.

Alec hadn’t, but it wasn’t for lack of trying, and beside the point. It was a long time ago. No use to think about it again now, even if Magnus was finally within reach again, like he had dreamt of for so long.

“I’m going to see Max.”

“Alexander…”

“I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

It was the cowards way out. He couldn’t bring himself to care.

He walked the short distance to Max’s room and let himself in, after a soft knock so as not to startle the boy.

Max was reading on his bed, as he often was. A different book than the last time Alec had come see him, and there was an impressive pile of other books by the bed, waiting to be read. It was pretty much Max’s only hobby, seeing that he couldn’t leave the room.

He hadn’t left that room in eight years.

“Alexander, hey! How are you? Everything okay?”

Seven years and his younger brother was still convinced something had to have gone wrong for him to visit. It had gotten worse after Alec’s coronation – Max thought Alec had to have better things to do for some reason. Had it been up to Alec he would have set up room in there too, by Max’s side, kept him company all day long.

“Yes, everything is fine. Just wanted to see how you were doing. Can I join you?”

Max nodded eagerly and moved over to make more room for his brother.

“What are you reading?” Alec inquired, trying to recognize the etchings on the pages.

“Jules Verne.”

“Again?”

“This one I haven’t read yet.”

Max had read more than him, more than the entire castle combined probably. Rare, new or foreign books had become a customary diplomatic gift at Alec’s court – it was a well-known fact that who pleased young Max pleased his king too.

Max had been the only one whose opinion truly mattered to him on the subject of the magic ban, the only one he had asked before announcing his project, and the only one who had surprised him by asking why would anyone be against lifting the ban. It had given him great strength and great arguments, for if even a teenager whose face and body had been scarred by magic still didn’t fear it and wanted to embrace it, who had reasons not to do the same?

Alec didn’t notice the scar anymore, but it covered half of Max’s face and made everybody flinch the first time. Warlock’s fire didn’t burn warlocks,  but it burnt other people just fine. It also left their skin fragile, vulnerable to basically everything, from sun to rain to the cold winter air. Dooming him to a life confined between the four walls of his room until a cure could be found.

Alec had to be honest, at least to himself – securing a good relationship with the witches was a way of achieving that, too.

Max’s injuries and curse were caused by magic, but not by magic users. Warlock fire could be bottled and bought on the black market, and their enemies had made well use of it eight years before by setting fire to the living quarters of the castle. It was said to have been an attempt at hardening the witch-hunt, and it had almost worked – their father had been enraged, and Alec had feared a massacre. He had been the one investigating on the side to prove witches weren’t actually behind this. It had made him feel awful, to focus on that when Max was hurting, but duties came before all the rest, and his duty was to his people, all of them. Witches included.

“What are you thinking about?”

Alec came back to himself to see Max look at him with curious eyes, his book forgotten. Alec thought about his answer, but only briefly. He tried not to lie to Max if he could help it.

“We met with the warlocks for the first time today. They came to the castle.”

Max’s eyes lit up with interest. Despite what had happened to him, he had an inexplicable fascination for magic.

“How were they? How did it go?”

“Fine, I think. We’re waiting for their answer but I have good hope they’ll come around and help us.”

Max fell strangely quiet at his side, looking forlorn and worried. Alec squeezed the arm he had around his shoulders lightly. “What is it?”

“You’re preparing for war, aren’t you?”

Alec didn’t answer immediately. It was obvious, but that didn’t make it easy to say. Max was perceptive though. Even held up in his room he kept close tabs on what was happening in the outside world. Alec did all he could to keep him in the loop, keep him a part of it all even if he had to stay away. He hated how powerless he felt, here in that room. No matter the power, the money, the title, he would have given it all up, and yet nothing he had could help his little brother. What was the point then?

_What’s the point of you?_

Alec shook his head to let the memory go.

“We are. Nothing is certain, but if it comes to it we have to defend the land, and its people.”

“I know, I know. You do what you have to do. I’m just…”

The boy hesitated. He would object to being called that – he wasn’t a man yet, but he wasn’t a boy anymore either. His teenage years had been spent in that room and he was faced with the prospect of living his adult life there too.

“I’m just scared. You go out and fight and I stay here and wait. I wait for your return or some terrible news and there won’t ever be a thing I can do about it.”

Alec held him closer. He didn’t know what to say to that.

“I’m sorry Max. I…”

“It’s okay. That’s just life yeah? I’m scared of losing you. That can’t be helped.”

Alec often reflected Max would have made a fine king.

“I’ll do my best to come back to you, and I’ll keep an eye on Izzy and Jace too. You know that right? We won’t abandon you.”

“I know you’ll try,” Max answered. Alec wished, not for the first time, that his brother was more naïve than he was.

 .

Alec was still the same, and yet not the same at all. Magnus thought he had done a good job at forgetting Alexander Lightwood, erasing him from his memories. Turned out what he really was good at was lying to himself.

In the end, ten years had done nothing to soften his feelings, the good and the bad. The betrayal still stung as sharply, and the love still burned as bright. How was it so? Why?

“So, Magnus, do you want to tell us what that was all about?”

Magnus abandoned his tormented questioning to go back to the present conversation. There would be a gathering later at the healer’s shop, in the backroom where they met regularly, to put the decision to a vote. For now it was only him with Catarina and Raphael, and Raphael was pissed. He had made no secret both before and during the meeting with the king that he was less than thrilled about associating with the leaders of the land, and he didn’t appreciate Magnus suddenly throwing the discussion off balance.

Magnus could understand that. Truth be told, he didn’t know what the hell had possessed him to speak up.

He hadn’t even been meaning to go at first. Thinking about it, the sole fact that he had considered hopping off a meeting with the king about witches' right was telling enough about how not over this story he was. But he couldn’t have refused to go even if he wanted to, not without raising suspicion. He had leverage and influence among magic wielders, being one of the most powerful of them as well as the one who had taken over the healer's shop after Ragnor death and sheltered young witches and warlocks in his place.

But why, why had he opened his mouth?

“Magnus?” Catarina called softly. He wanted to have a crisis in peace, but it was obviously not going to happen. He sighed deeply.

“We did meet before. It was a long time ago, but we got to know each other. I trust him and his words, as strange as it might sound.”

It was notoriously known that despite his influence, he didn’t get involved in anything resembling politics. He had never commented on the repealing of the ban, never taken part in the debate about whether or not they could trust it and come forward. He let them use the shop – it was about as far as he was willing to go for the cause.

In addition to his words, the mere fact that he had spoken up at all had surprised them greatly. That he had even shown his face, when he had been concealing himself on the way there, was out of character in itself.

It was all Alec’s fault.

“How the hell did you get acquainted with the king without anyone knowing?”

“He was just a prince at the time.”

Raphael scrunched his nose in displeasure. He was always so easy to rile up, angered that he was by Magnus’s lack of faith and commitment in the improving of their situation.

“Anyway,” Magnus amended after a stern glare from Catarina, “he has a point. If we don’t stop the enemy there, we’ll face them here. The argument is sound.”

“Doesn’t mean he won’t turn on us as soon as his enemies are defeated.”

“He won’t.”

“You can’t know that!”

“I do. He won’t.”

“Magnus,” Catarina said, gentle but firm, “it’s only us. Talk to us, please. Tell us what’s on your mind.”

She was always so perceptive when it came to him. They had grown up together after all, as brother and sister, she knew him better than anyone, to his great displeasure sometimes.

“I don’t want to get into it but… we became close… friends. I know it seems strange but I mean what I said. I trust him.”

"It's been many years. You can't know if he hasn't changed."

“I trust my instinct. Some promises can’t be broken.”

And some could, but not all of them.

"Is that what mattered to you then? You've never had any interest in the fight for our rights but you are willing to stand up for him."

“What, are you jealous?”

Raphael huffed, frustrated and angry, and Magnus almost apologized but refrained. If Raphael wanted to attack him, he would know what was coming at him. Magnus didn’t get involved and didn’t let anyone fault him for that, but this was different. It was war. They had to be smart on this, smarter than usual. Alec would keep his promises, he would. There was no doubt about it in his mind, but he couldn’t do that if the country was ravaged and its people dead.

“I’m not asking you to trust him, but to trust me. I have said my piece on this, you know the decision is ultimately yours,” Magnus said diplomatically, because it was true. He had a lot of influence but Raphael was their unspoken leader. His words would be followed without question. “We don’t have much of a choice. You know what kind of power they have on the other side. We have to fight.”

"I already know that. Those are my arguments, not yours. Don't treat me like an idiot, and don't pretend that you care"

“I care that we don’t all end up dead.”

They glared at each other for a moment before Raphael gave up with a dramatic shrug and turned his back on him.

“I’ll go spread the word, get this over with. Once the decision is approved we will have a lot to do, and you WILL be a part of it.”

“What?”

“You will, Magus. Own up to your actions and words for once, you have a responsibility in this.”

Magnus had King answer on the tip of his tongue, but Raphael vanished before he could voice it.

“Dammit.”

He only realized his fists were tightly shut when Catarina laid a soothing hand on them, prying them open so that she could lace their fingers together. The tension leeched from him in waves and he smiled at her gratefully.

“I remember you going an awful lot to the woods at some point,” she said when she was confident he wasn’t going to spontaneously combust. He tensed minutely, but with her hands on him he couldn’t put his walls up.

“We used to meet in the clearing.”

“I also remember you stopped going abruptly, around the time Ragnor…”

He didn’t have to stop her for her to cut her sentence short. Their friend and mentor’s death was still an open wound, always would be. She squeezed his hand.

“Were you close?”

He only nodded. They didn’t need words to communicate and she especially didn’t need words to understand him. He saw the sympathy on her face, the affection. He smiled weakly.

“I promised myself I wouldn’t get involved in all this. That I would stay in my corner. The only way for us to be left in peace is to hide. Hide and never mingle.”

“And yet you came today. You came and you spoke. You swayed their mind.”

He sighed deeply.

“I don’t know why I did.”

“Don’t you really?”

She had that look on her face, the one that said “I know and you know and I know you know and you know that too”.

"It was a long time ago," he said, as if it changed anything, as if it mattered. What was the point anyway? He had hurt Alec as deeply as he could and then turned his back on him, never to return. It was over and dealt with. Did the boy even remember him?

“Maybe. But you’ll still come to the next meeting at the castle,” she answered all-knowingly. He didn’t deny it. He probably would.

.

Alec wanted to be angry with himself, for looking forward to the next meeting with the witches for reasons that had nothing to do with the gravity of the situation. He hadn't dared hope too much before, because he had no way of knowing if Magnus would be there. He could have been dead and buried for all Alec knew. But he wasn't. He was very much alive, still living in town. He had been within Alec's reach and he would be again very soon.

Alec felt like a teenager again, young and foolish like he hadn't been in years. He wondered now if the way he had felt when with Magnus had had nothing to do with his age and everything to do with the boy himself, now a man but still eliciting the same emotions, the same turmoil.

However, Alec couldn't afford to get distracted. There was too much at stake, his whole kingdom, his people, his family. He had doubts about what exactly Magnus’s words would be about him. What would he tell his peers? Did he even want to convince them? Alec had no way of knowing. He could only wait, and fool himself into thinking he wasn't impatient, eager even.

The warlocks sent a party of only a few of the next time. The white-haired woman, Catarina, and the young man who had been so hostile the first time around, Raphael. A few others that stayed behind, obviously more or a support and a security measure than voices in the conversation.

And Magnus.

Alec had had to sit at a council meeting all day the night after the attack and Max's injuries.  He had had to meet with one of their most trusted allies for the first time of his reign while Jace was battling for his life in the infirmary after an aborted attack on his king's life. He couldn't count the number of time he had tended to his duties while sick, injured or exhausted by insomnia.

No matter the strength of his feelings for Magnus and how unbalanced his presence left him, he showed nothing of it during the meeting, despite the scrutiny of both the warlocks and his siblings, standing by his side and tracking his every move. He appreciated their support, he supposed, but it wasn't warranted and more than a little irritating. He wasn't a child anymore.

"Have you come to a decision?" he asked after some quiet times of gauging each other openly. He was speaking to the woman and focusing solely on her, crushing hard the urge to look in Magnus's direction.

"We have. For all you promised to us, for our safety and our freedom and the future of our children, we will help you."

He suppressed any expression of the relief and gratitude he felt in favor of a simple nod and a firm handshake. It was a small victory and the war wasn't won yet, but at least now he felt like they had some kind of chance to come out of it on top.

"We have conditions though," said Raphael, stepping in, face closed off and guarded. "One of which is to be let in on your strategies, and to have a voice in your decisions."

Alec could feel Jace's protest without having to see or hear him and spoke before he could.

"You will have seats at the Council, and they are permanent. You will siege even after the war is over, if you so wish, with the same power as any of the other seats."

Alec didn't bulge at their surprised reaction or the disproval coming off of Jace in waves. They made the mistake of thinking this was something unexpected, when he had been thinking about it for months, maybe years. There was nothing thoughtless in his words and actions. It was all carefully measured and pondered long ago.

He chose to stay focused on Catarina. She seemed open and sensible, and willing to make this work – he liked her. He couldn't think about Magnus, about anything else really.

Later, maybe. Later when they were safe and at peace. Maybe later, maybe then.

He conversed vividly with the white-haired woman, who hid a fierce tongue under her gentle exterior. But for all her firm negotiations and objections, he had the feeling that deep down they were on the same page, determined to make this work. He doubted it was the same for all the others, so he could only rely on her influence on her peers. Magnus didn’t seem all that concerned by what was going on. It was probably better this way – Alec wasn’t sure he could handle talking to him for the first time in ten years in these circumstances.

Still, when they left that day, he had hope. Maybe the war could be avoided. And if it wasn’t, maybe they would win it, maybe without too much death and destruction. And maybe Magnus would be there, and maybe…

He had hope.

.

They had said that they would send someone to be their liaison at the castle and that they would be there as often as possible. Alec had easily agreed and hadn't thought much of it, up until the next war council.

He wasn’t surprise to see Catarina there, but with her, fate had sent yet another blow to him. Magnus stood by her side, and Alec cursed all the deities of this world.

To their credit, they both did an admirable job. Most of the men and women gathered around the table buried in maps and report were wary of them, even if they tried not to show it, but they didn't let it get to them at all. Catarina was engaging and involved, gifted with diplomatic skills that helped her de escalate any fight before it even begun. And despite not looking happy to be here at all, Magnus was insightful and well informed, and his remarks were few but always pertinent and useful.

He also never looked at Alec.

The more time passed with Magnus acting as if he didn't exist, the more he was reminded of the last words they had shared, the last time they had seen each other. It had helped, at some point, to believe that Magnus hadn't really cared about him, had just seen his title, the possibilities, the thrill. But it hurt too, and he didn’t want to remember that, to waste his time wondering – _do you still hate me now, even though you promised you wouldn't?_

Was that a lie too? Did he ever care _?_

Alec couldn't just let it go, but before he could approach the wizard at the end of the meeting, he had vanished.

It went like that every single time. Time passed, armies advanced, Alec lost more and more sleep. He laid awake at night, tortured by the amount of decisions he had to make, the pressure, the fear. The few times he thought he would be able to talk to Magnus in private, he always froze before he could go through with it. The memory resurfaced without warning, as it often had over the years. Magnus’s face deformed by rage and sorrow, his voice breaking on his words.

_I hate you, you hear me? I hate you!_

They had haunted him ever since, and he couldn’t undo them, couldn’t escape their grasp. The more time passed and the more he was convinced that if they hadn’t reconnected yet, there had to be a reason.

_I don’t want to see you ever again._

They hadn’t made good on any of their words, but maybe Magnus was just going for the next best thing – ignoring him completely. Alec had to respect that. No matter how it ate at him from the inside, he had to.

.

They were on their way back from the castle, and Magnus could tell there was something Catarina wanted to say. Every time she was hesitating to broach a complicated subject, she would walk a few steps in front of him and glance at him sideways, falling into step before walking up again while she pondered over her decision. Sometimes he let her gather her thoughts and courage, but he wasn’t feeling very patient that day.

“Say your piece Cat, please.”

She looked like she was going to deny it for about a second, before remembering that he knew her as well as she knew him. She sighed.

“I’m just wondering why you won’t talk to him.”

No wonder why she was hesitating. The other witches had quickly learned that the king was far from a safe subject of discussion with him, and they all avoided even mentioning the man in his presence. Cat was the one who debriefed on the day’s meeting – Magnus always disappeared as soon as he was back to the shop.

“I have nothing to say to him.”

She rolled her eyes, annoyed. “Not even “hello” and “goodbye”? People notice you know.”

Magnus frowned. He had no doubt that people de-escalate, but he didn’t know what to say to her – he didn’t understand himself. He was simply incapable of addressing Alexander. He couldn’t do it. Before opening his mouth he would remember how they had parted ways and the last words they had exchanged, and his voice would die in his throat. He didn’t know how to break this ten-year silence, how to bring them back from that terrible moment in the clearing. “Hello” and “goodbye”? How could he?

_I don't want to see you ever again. Just leave!_

How could he?

And his answer was at least partially true. What would they say? Exchange courtesies like nothing was amiss? Start yelling, cursing, picking up things where they had left them off as teenagers? Alec hadn’t talked to him either.

“I can’t, Cat,” he confessed, defeated. “I can’t talk to him. How things ended… nothing can mend that breach.”

“If only you didn’t avoid his gaze so much, you would see the way he looks at you.”

She wasn’t accusing, she was too kind for that, but there was disapproval in her tone. He knew it was mostly for his sake – she couldn’t have missed how miserable he felt at those meeting, how angry he was at Raphael for sending him there with her, as sound and justified as it was.

Besides, the situation was truly worrying – Valentine was advancing further into the land and it would soon be time to send the army to meet and stop him. Now wasn’t the time for their personal feelings to get in the way.

Now, or ever, really.

“It was a long time ago. It doesn’t matter now.”

Her long, drawn out sigh, told him how much she disagreed, but she dropped it, to his relief and they spent the rest of the way in silence.

.

Alec was getting angry, and that was something he couldn’t afford.

Valentine and his men had raided a small village near the border and destroyed the whole place. The villagers had been able to escape – thanks to their resident witch and her two daughters – and to hide in the forest, but their home and town were no more. They had arrived at the castle the day before, first refugees of a conflict Alec was determined to contain. They would be the last ones.

He couldn’t afford to get angry at Magnus. He couldn’t afford losing sleep over him on top of everything else, and being distracted during strategy meetings, and feeling generally terrible.

He couldn’t help it though. He wanted to respect Magnus’s wishes, he really did, but the more Magnus acted like he was transparent, the more he felt the urge to grip his shoulders and shake him hard, to yell at his face “look at me, talk to me, don’t you remember?”

To make matters worse, people were talking. Because Magnus wasn’t coldly polite or just distant, no – he was plain ignoring his king, and for someone in his position, it was a terrible move. Some were just waiting for any excuse to lash out on the witches, and Magnus was giving them great ammunition.

It had to stop. The army was marching in a few days, Magnus couldn’t be on his mind. It had to stop.

“We’ll see the details tomorrow, but the plan is settled. Dismissed,” he called, putting an end to a long, exhausting session of battle planning that had everyone buzzing with restlessness and agitation. Before they started exiting the room though, he turned towards the witches and spoke loudly enough to be heard by all, “Warlock Bane. A word, please.”

Despite his resolution, he hadn’t been able to meet Magnus’s gaze, but he could see him stiffen out of the corner of his eyes, and they remained motionless as the room emptied slowly. Soon enough they were the only two left in the room, that was at once feeling way too small and not nearly small enough. Magnus was on the other side of the long table covered in maps and scouting reports – it felt like the other side of the world.

Magnus was avoiding his gaze, focusing on a small wooden horse abandoned on the table, and Alec took the opportunity to study him intently. He suffered from a strange double vision, the man standing there superposed with the teenager he once was, short and scrawny but fierce, demanding, stubborn. The man before him looked older in every sense of the term, far calmer and more tired too, maybe a bit defeated. He finally raised his head to meet Alec’s eyes and for just a second Alec wasn’t there anymore – the eyes, the eyes were the same.

“Is there something you wanted to say to me, King Alexander?”

And just like that, the illusion shattered.

King Alexander. Magnus had never called him that. Of course he hadn’t. He wasn’t king then. He wasn’t even Alexander.

No one else had ever wanted to call him Alec.

What was he expecting, really? He felt so foolish. Magnus had made clear he didn’t want to have anything to do with him. There was nothing left of what they had shared once. Was there ever anything?

Alec wasn’t about to ask that. King Alexander he had called him, so King Alexander he would be.

"I have to ask you to mind your behavior around me. I do understand that you witches don't abide by our laws and rules, but I am your king still and your insolence is stirring unnecessary troubles.”

What was he saying. That wasn’t it, that wasn’t… He was just hurt and angry but Magnus had to know right? He had to know it wasn’t what he wanted to say. He had always been able to tell…

“I see. I’ll be mindful of that then.”

 _Of what?_ Alec wanted to ask _. Of being indifferent in a more proper way? Of hiding more carefully your hatred for me?_

“Was there anything else?”

There was a million thing, but the only one Alec managed to ask was, “Are you riding to battle with us?”

Magnus shrugged. “Yes.”

“I’d rather you wouldn’t.”

Alec didn’t know what he was saying. How many years had it been since he had talked without thinking it through thoroughly first? Of course Magnus had to come with them, he was one of the most powerful warlocks in town, especially skilled in both attack and protection, they needed him on the battlefield. What was he saying?

It was just wishful thinking. For Jace and Izzy, he had had to come to terms with it, but if it was only on him he would forbid them to come too.

If it was only on him he would go alone, if it meant he could spare them all. That wasn’t how war worked though, and he knew it. But he could prevent Magus from coming. He already had trouble keeping his eyes off him when they were safe in the council room, how would he cope on the battlefield, when keeping an eye on his siblings was already compromising his concentration and skills.

He wasn’t thinking straight, it was absurd. This wasn’t about him, or Magnus. He had a war to win. What was he saying?

“Afraid I’ll distract you to death, Sir?”

Alec hadn’t heard Magnus sound so vicious since their very first meeting.

“Or betray you?”

There was no rational explanation as to how the conversation had derailed so badly. He just wanted to talk to him, that was all. Hear his voice, meet his eyes, find again something he had lost years ago.

“What? No, no. But you are… valuable. We wouldn’t want to lose you. There.”

It wasn’t him talking. It was King Alexander, cold and calculating, setting aside his feelings as if they didn’t even exist. He was very good at this. As if Alec would ever qualify Magnus as “valuable”. As if that’s what it was.

Magnus had to know though. Magnus knew Alec, knew he wasn’t like that. But Magnus didn’t know his king. A lot had changed in ten years. Magnus smirked, expression mocking, hurt and resentful. “Don’t worry, I won’t die.”

_“I can’t watch you die.”_

_“Alec, please calm down. I won’t. I promise.”_

They both froze, caught off guard by the unwanted memory, echo of light words with heavy meanings, of promises done without thinking, without weighing their consequences. Magnus’s face lost all trace of animosity, replaced by genuine surprise and an unguarded softness that went straight to Alec’s heart in a painful jab. Magnus walked backward, reaching blindly for the door behind him. Only the sound of the handle clicking startled Alec into motion again.

“Wait, wait!”

He almost ran for the door, to catch Magnus’s wrist and stop him from running away. Time stopped.

.

That single point of contact, Alec’s hand on the soft skin of Magnus’s arm, shocked them both into immobility. They stared dumbly at their hands, at Alec’s fingers losing their grip slowly, only to go down and intertwine with Magnus’s. Alec took a step forward, Magnus turned – the next moment they were facing each other, so close their foreheads were almost touching, their breath mingling.

“Magnus,” Alec exhaled, breathless, against Magnus’s lips. Alec raised his free hand to Magnus’s face, but his fingers hovered just above his cheek, not daring to touch. Magnus couldn’t close the distance either. Their bodies were molded against each other but they weren’t touching anywhere else than their hands, their fingers lacing and playing, searching for something they couldn’t find.

“Magnus,” Alec whispered again, like he had countless time back in the clearing, when they had held each other close, when life had been sweeter and the world smaller, less complicated. Magnus’s skin was burning up, Alec’s touch both soothing and hurting even more. He wanted to plead, to beg. Touch me, touch me, kiss me, take me back there, don’t let go.

“Magnus.”

But he couldn’t say his name. Alexander, Alec. My King. His mouth was open but he couldn’t make a sound – he didn’t know who he had in front of him. What was the point, the goal, what was happening, why. Who was this man.

Would he hurt him?

What did the King have in mind? What was he trying to do?

A mix of distrust and anger took over the longing in Magnus’s heart and head. He stumbled backward as if he was waking up from a dream. It had to be. This wasn’t’ their reality anymore.

Alec looked at least as lost as Magnus felt. He opened his mouth and stretched a hand, but Magnus turned abruptly and ran away.

.

Well, he wasn’t running away. He was just leaving. In a hurry. Without turning back, and as fast as he could.

Magnus was running away, both from Alec and from his own thoughts. Maybe if he walked fast enough he would leave them behind and they would leave him in peace.

He arrived running at the shop, but his mind was still reeling.

Catarina came to meet him outside, so tuned into him that she just knew. She didn’t say anything, for which he was grateful, she led him inside without a word and prepared some herbal tea of her own making, something soothing and warm that settled him immediately. He smiled a tired but sincere, grateful smile.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He shook his head and remained silent. What was there to talk about? Just hearing Alec’s voice addressing him had been enough of a shock that he had felt like combusting, and then it had only gone downhill from there. They didn’t know how to talk to each other anymore. They didn’t know each other really, they were basically strangers. And yet…

Yet the man had had the nerve to ask him to stay out of it, to run after him, to _touch_. Why? It didn’t make sense. He had heard countless times how reasonable and level headed King Alexander was, but he hadn’t seen a single proof of that tonight. 

Then again, even when he was still a prince, Alec always had the reputation of being calm and collected, something that was hilarious to him back then.

 _“I don’t know what it is about you,”_ Alec had said to him once, _"that makes me act like this. So reckless, so… so crazy.”_

It made him feel marginally better, to know that he still affected Alec as much as Alec affected him. But it didn’t change the fact that this was behind them now. If Alec wanted to treat him like a commodity, Magnus would do the same.

Frankly speaking, his presence at the battle had been discussed before. He was great at protection and illusions and the shop, the town, still needed to be guarded during the army and the other witches absence. It was either him or Catarina.

“We decided I’d be the one to ride to battle with them,” he announced casually to his childhood friend. Even if he was a good liar, he couldn’t deceive her. She squinted her eyes at him but, strangely enough, she didn’t call him out on it. She just let out a long, heavy sigh, the one that said “you’re being a damn fool again”, but she gave her assent, and all was said on the matter.

.

Alec looked thoughtfully around him, reflexively revising positions and strategic points, trying to take his mind off the fight to come.

It wasn’t his first battle. He hoped it wouldn’t be his last either, but the point was he was no stranger to that feeling, that dreadful anticipation, and the small burst of panic where his mind and body were trying to rebel, trying to make him do the sensible thing and flee. But like all the men gathered on the plain, he stood still, trained to suppress those urges, those base instincts of survival that would have him run in the opposite direction. He wouldn’t run, none of them would. It wasn’t really a comforting thought.

Jace and Izzy were by his side, always. He would rather have them safe and sound far away from here, but it was never going to happen. He didn’t even suggest it anymore. Their place was here, with him. He had accepted it.

What he had trouble dealing with was the straight figure of Magnus standing a few feet away on his right. He was surrounded by his friends, all of them looking fierce and determined, as well as dramatically under protected compared to the soldiers posted not far from them. They had assured them that armors and weapons would only incapacitate them and that “magic would provide”, for their safety and strength, something they had been saying often but had yet to give any measure of reassurance to Alexander. To him Magnus simply looked defenseless and vulnerable, no matter the power he knew the man could yield.

They hadn’t had the time to speak again.

He had put it off like a coward and now it was too late. The battle was upon them and they would soon be swallowed by violence and death, taken up only by thought of surviving the day. He should have talked, should have sought him out and opened his heart to him, for he regretted not doing it now, and he could only fear how much he would truly regret it later, if anything was to happen to one of them.

He had said nothing, when the witches had come to meet them at the gate and he had seen Magnus among them. It was of no use. He could prevent Magnus from coming of course, but on what ground? He didn’t have any good reason and the true ones were unspeakable, especially in light of their last conversation. He hadn’t been able to convey his feelings to Magnus, and it was too late now. The man hated him and he probably thought Alec didn’t care either. Why was he so good with words as a king and so terrible with them as a man?

He wanted to forbid him to die. What use was it to be king if you couldn’t command and be obeyed? He wished he could just order them all to survive, to live through the day and go back at the end of it all to their family and friends. He wished his words held that kind of power.

Maybe Magnus sensed he was being observed. His head turned minutely, just so that they could catch each other’s gaze above the distance and the men separating them. For a moment they held onto this look, and Alec was screaming inside of his head even if nothing showed on his face. He was begging and praying, commanding and bargaining. He was hoping, against all hope, to be spared from further tragedy, to see those close to him return safely home. He held Magnus’s gaze and he hoped, against all hope, that the man understood, that he knew.

And then the trumpets blew across the land and troops appeared from the cover of the forest, and it was time to fight.

.

He had never liked to fight, not like Jace or Izzy did. He didn’t like the principle, he didn’t like the act itself, he didn’t like it at all. He was still one of the best fighters among the knights, had to be, but in that, as in a lot of things, he excelled as a sense of duty and nothing else. He would have been hard pressed, had he been asked, to name an occupation he truly enjoyed, among all the ones that occupied his time. He had simple tastes. He had loved so much walking alone in the forest, tasting the peace and quiet, the life going on around him, unbothered and everlasting, the echo of his own thoughts free to wander without any limits.

It had been so long since he had gone. Maybe when this was all over, maybe then…

Alec had never liked to fight, but he had never hesitated either. To protect his life or the life of others, to ensure their safety and survival, there was nothing he wouldn’t have done. It wasn’t a conscious thing, wasn’t ever formulated that clearly in his mind. It was just his way of being.

And so he wasn’t thinking, and he went through the motion, as steel clashed against steel and blood mingled with blood. He didn’t spare a thought to his enemies either – they had made their choice, as he had made his, and on the battlefield they killed or died, it was as simple as that.

He wasn’t thinking, not at all. Not when Jace was brought down to one knee by two soldiers and Alec stepped in to even the fight, not when he stopped a blade from sectioning the arm of one of his knights who happened to be by his side. Not when he shouted a warning at Izzy, and certainly not when he came to stand between a lost arrow and Magnus’s heart.

He had a very brief thought though, that given its trajectory – or the strange glow of its head – that arrow wasn’t lost at all, and that they should have incorporated the new parameters that were magic users in their training program. Oh well, maybe they had. Jace was very thorough. But Alec had been so busy. When was the last time he had trained with his siblings, with Clarissa and Simon and the other knights? When was the last time he had talked to any of them other than to give them orders and advice on the battles to come?

Where was Magnus? Was he okay? And Izzy, and Jace? He couldn’t see a thing.

Very soon, he couldn’t think about anything at all.

.

All Magnus could think about was that he had promised Alec he wouldn’t die, but Alec had never promised in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, definitely need a third part. Don't worry I'm not adding a Major Character Death tag so everything is gonna be fine. Hope you enjoyed, let me know, see you soon!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All's well that ends well (after some confusion).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ten month and 26k words later, this thing is finally done! To think it was supposed to be a one-shot, haha. Anyway I hope you'll like this last installment. Thanks to NightChanger for the corrections and I'll see you on a new AU. Enjoy!

When he came back to himself, the battle was over, because he couldn’t hear a sound. No battlefield was ever this quiet unless they had already counted the dead and moved out. Maybe they had thought he was dead and left him behind. No, that was absurd. They identified and buried their dead, and well, he was the king. That had to count for something.

Besides, he noticed blearily, he was lying on a bed.

The battle was way over.

He came fully to consciousness in a state of utter panic. Had they defeated Morgenstern? Was he home, or was he a prisoner? And his family, his friends? He had to know what had happened. There was a lot to do.

His frenzy was abruptly cut down when he tried to sit up and his entire body became one single bright flare of pain. He cursed, tears coming to his eyes as he sunk back into his bed, almost wishing he hadn’t woken up at all. By the time his labored breath came back under his control, his mind disentangled itself a bit from its knots, and the faint rumor of a conversation floated to him from outside the room he was in.

His room. It was his bedroom.

And not a conversation. An argument.

“You will tell me what you did to him!”

Jace. Commanding, and angry, though how did he expect any cooperation from his interlocutor with that kind of tone, Alec didn’t know.

“I won’t tell you anything because there isn’t anything to tell.”

Especially if he was talking to Magnus. They were both healthy and lively enough to argue, a fact that immediately lightened the weight that was crushing his chest since he had come back to consciousness.

“This is your fault and I’ll prove it,” Jace went on. Alec could clearly see in his mind the warlock rolling his eyes, supremely unimpressed. He tried to rise once again and once again lost to the weakness of his body with a frustrated cry. It caught the attention of the two men who rushed in with wide eyes and a look of wonder on their faces.

“Hello,” Alec rasped, before understanding that talking was not the thing to do right now. His throat and mouth were as dry as if he had eaten sand, his lips cracked and stiff. It must have shown on his face because Jace was hovering in an instant with a cup of water and a worried but relieved look on his face. Magnus stayed a few feet away, but even if he kept a better hold on his expression he couldn’t hide he felt quite the same. Not to Alec anyway. Alec was pleased to see him, to see them both.

“Is everyone okay?” he asked as soon as he felt capable of talking without having a coughing fit. Jace’s face darkened.

“The battle was hard, and we lost many. But we won. Morgenstern got away but his troops surrendered. We’re okay. You’re okay.”

With that Alec could properly breathe again. There was a lot to do but at the very least the world hadn’t ended, he still had time. The future has seemed so closed off, just before the battle, like a heavy clouded sky blocking the sun, threatening and unpredictable.

The clouds had parted. Things would just be fine.

If Jace was kind enough to keep his knife away from Magnus’s throat.

Alec blamed his foggy brain, still altered by his sleep, because it took him an absurd amount of time to register what was happening. Jace had spun around in an instant to pin Magnus against the wall with the tip of his knife. The warlock’s lips were tightly shut, his eyes murderous and his body beyond tense, but he didn’t move an inch. Jace’s blade was close enough that it would pierce the skin if Magnus just breathed a little too deep.

“What is going on?” Alec asked with a pathetically weak voice, far from the demanding tone he wanted to use to diffuse this situation. The two men kept staring at each other and Jace talked to Magnus instead of him.

“Now that he’s awake what is keeping me from killing you?” he snarled.

“I am. Jace, back off. That’s an order.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying!” his brother exclaimed. His bladeless hand was clawing at Magnus’s shoulder to keep him in place and Alec didn’t miss the grimace of pain on Magnus’s face when Jace tightened his hold. “He’s the one responsible for this. It’s his fault you’ve been hurt. You almost died!”

“For the thousandth time, I didn’t do anything to him,” Magnus spit through gritted teeth. I’m the one who has kept him alive this past month, what sense does that make in your brilliant scenario?”

“Month?”

Alec became suddenly aware of the stiffness of his body, its weakness. When he looked outside to the main court he saw the trees lining the garden, saw that the green leaves he had last seen before leaving for the border where now turning bright red and orange, some floating softly in the wind and gathering on the ground.

It wasn’t possible.

“I don’t pretend to know what twisted plan you came up with. I just know that you made him your human shield and that he was hurt in order to protect you.”

“And he couldn’t have done that all by himself?”

“Now why would he have done that? See, you can’t answer!”

How? And how long? What had happened to him? What had happened to the others, to the country, while he was gone? Did they assume he was dead? Had they moved on, had they kept going without him? What was happening, how was it so, why?

His breath deserted his lungs and the room shrunk around him. He couldn’t move. It wasn’t possible. He felt like he had barely slept an hour, and yet… Why hadn’t they woken him up sooner? How was he even still alive?

Was he though?

“I don’t see why I am arguing with you again. You can’t do anything against me anyway. I am a member of the Council and they are less stupid than you. You can always take your concern again to them if you feel like making a fool of yourself once more.”

“I need no one’s permission to bleed you like a pig.”

Was he? The room suddenly seemed too bright to be real. It made sense that if he was in heaven he would wake up at home, with the people he loved. But why would they be arguing? He felt far away from them, like in a dream. He knew he couldn’t reach out to them even if he tried, his body wasn’t answering, his voice was gone.

Maybe this was hell.

He was desperately gasping for air. That was it. He was powerless and weak, left out of the march of the world, unable to communicate with it anymore. He was trapped in that bed. It was hell.

“Alexander!”

There were hands on his face and body, voices in his ear, but he couldn’t make out their words or recognize their faces. He didn’t know where he was, and he couldn’t breathe.

“Alec, it’s okay. You’re okay, everything is fine. You’re safe, we’re all safe, all is good. Calm down.”

He couldn’t. He was going to pass out, and it only worsened his panicked state because the last thing he wanted right now was to lose consciousness again. What if he slept another month, or longer? What if he didn’t wake up at all? He was never going to sleep again.

Just when he was starting to fade away, a sudden rush of warmth spread through his body from a radiating point of contact on his arms. It loosened his muscles and cleared his head, opened the cage circling his chest. He took a deep breath, his vision clearing.

“That’s it. That’s it.”

Alec followed Magnus’s soothing encouragements and found himself back in his room. Jace had gone at some point, maybe to find some help. Magnus was sitting by his side on the bed, and despite the relief and naked joy on his face, Alec couldn’t miss how tired he looked, worn out and drained like he hadn’t slept for a week. He saw the warlock’s hands glowing softly on his arm and understood to what he owed his newfound peace of mind.

“Are you alright?” he asked, because he knew how tiring magic could be and Magnus had to have used way too much to look so wrecked. The question only made him laugh though, a short, incredulous laugh.

“Alec, you took an arrow to the chest and nearly died. You’ve been asleep for weeks. If anyone should ask that, it’s me.”

Alec wanted to answer to his smile but he felt sick again. He couldn’t reconcile what he was hearing and how close the battle felt. He had absolutely no sense of the time that had gone by without him, and it was scaring him a great deal.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Magnus whispered soothingly, sensing his rising panic. “It’s alright now. You’re back. You had us so worried Alec, if you knew. Don’t ever do that again.”

Alec couldn’t answer anything to that without lying, so he chose to say nothing. He had done enough of false promises in his youth. Even if he came to appreciate over time how he kept some of them after all.

The moment was interrupted by the door bursting open and a small crowd suddenly filling his room. He recognized Catarina and Raphael and relaxed some more when he saw Izzy's face, damp with tears but illuminated by a bright smile. Before he could say a word he received the heavy weight of his little brother on his chest and…

“Max? What is… what are you doing here?”

He glared accusingly at his siblings – even if the circumstances were exceptional, it was foolish to let him out of his room like this, too risky. Izzy only smiled wider.

“It’s okay Alec. I’m okay now.”

Alec blinked at him. Reality was escaping him again, too much was happening at once. What did that even mean? Okay how?

Magnus’s hand on his arm worked its magic again, literally, but did nothing to alleviate his confusion.

“I’m healed,” Max said simply, casting a grateful, adoring look at Catarina, who was standing a few feet away.

“You woke up just in time Sir,” she said by way of a confirmation. “He has his first trip in town planned in a couple of days.”

Alec wished he could feel the delight and wonder he was supposed to at this news, but he could only manage dread. This was too good to be true. This was impossible. Life wasn’t good like this, that’s not how it worked.

Was it a trick? Some kind of torture, of punishment, of fantasy? There was nothing he could hold onto, nothing that could clue him into what was happening. They were all looking at him with open, happy faces, and he couldn’t believe it.

He felt beyond exhausted and the world didn’t make any sense.

“I think you should go back to sleep,” Magnus said suddenly. Alec felt split between gratitude and sheer terror – he didn’t want to sleep.

“No, I…”

“You’re not in any condition to deal with so much at the same time. It’s okay, Alec. Just a few hours of restful, normal sleep. Your body isn’t completely healed yet. It’s okay.

“No, no, please,” he pleaded to the warlock, oblivious to his audience. “Don’t, don’t make me, I don’t want to…” He didn’t care about any of them, about anything at all apart from staying awake. Magnus held his gaze with a heartbroken but determined look on his face as magic seeped into Alec's bone once more. He was overcome with panic, but only for a second. Enough to hear Magnus apologize and Jace protest angrily, before he sunk into a dreamless sleep.

.

Jace fitted exactly the type of people that Magnus couldn't stand, and normally, he wouldn't have minded head-butting him at every occasion. The man had been nothing but antagonizing from the very first day they had met, and it had only gotten worse after Alec had been injured. Magnus had made an effort to stay cordial for Alec's sake when they were attending meetings, but for the past month, nothing Jace had said or done had managed to stir any stronger feeling that distant annoyance in Magnus.

He had been consumed by worry, fear, guilt and regret, and there had been no place for anything else.

It didn't help that he was running so low on magic that he slept more than he was awake. Catarina was fretting worriedly over him, but she didn't try to talk him out of it – she was aware how fruitless it would have been, and had resolved to shoulder him when she could. But she had other duties – mainly, keeping the warlocks safe and tracking down those they had fought, to win them over to their side or deal with the threat they posed. The reason why Jace, despite all his threats, hadn’t made a move on Magnus yet, was her efficiency and commitment to eradicate enemy warlocks from their community. No ploy could take the sacrifices quite so far. They were the few among them to protest, but most of them were ready to pay the price for their place in the kingdom. Morgenstern's warlocks had made their choice – they were tracked down as were any of his men.

Magnus was far from it all. All he had done since the battle was staying by Alec's side, and try his hardest to keep him alive.

The first few days he had no time to think, about anything. Alec was so far gone, hope was so slim, it had been a constant battle just to keep his heart going. But then had come the wait, the longing, and Magnus had been left alone with his thoughts and regrets. Faced with the possibility that Alec would never wake, that Magnus would never be able to talk to him again, to tell him all.

Sitting next to Alec's bed, monitoring his vitals and waiting for him to wake again, he couldn't decide what he would say first.

Yell, maybe. Tell him how foolish he had been, ask him why, why, why. Why had he stepped in front of Magnus, what had possessed him to forfeit his life like that. The reason why he hadn't managed to convince Jace and those of similar mind that he hadn’t, in fact, manipulated Alec into protecting him, was because he couldn't for the life of him find another viable explanation. He had checked actually, but no, Alec hadn't been bewitched, no one had coerced him into taking an arrow for Magnus. Why had he done it then? A mystery still.

That would maybe finally be resolved, since Alec was starting to stir. Magnus was up and about in an instant, wishing to spare the man the confusion and anguish that had welcomed him the first time.

Alec's eyes flew open and he tried to rise, casting wild, panicked look around him. Magnus pushed gently on his shoulder to keep him down, making soothing noises.

"It's alright, it's alright. All is fine, you're safe. Stay down. It took quite a lot of work to bring you up to this point, I'd hate to see it all wasted."

Alec went willingly enough but he still looked lost. Magnus handed him some water that the young king gulped down eagerly.

"I saw Max in my room,” Alec said, a little out of breath. "Was it true? Or was it a dream? It was a dream wasn't it?"

"It wasn't a dream. Your family is safe, and we cured Max. It was the least we could do. You should have asked sooner."

"What happened d to me?"

"You don’t remember?"

Alec's face turned pensive, his brow furrowed in concentration. "I took an arrow to the chest."

He automatically looked down, like he expected to see the arrow still poking out. There were only clean bandages under his loose shirt. He made a little noise of surprise and Magnus quench the urge to kiss him.

"Why was I asleep for so long? How long exactly?" he asked, a hint of his earlier panic in his voice.

"Forty-four days. You almost died," Magnus said, trying and failing to sound clinical, detached, like he hadn't counted the day with increasing anxiety. "With regular medicine you wouldn't have made it. Only magic saved you, and even then it was a close call."

Alec didn't look as shocked by this as he should have.

"You almost died," Magnus repeated, because Alec had to understand that, had to take the full measure of what had happened, of the consequences of his actions.

"I have a lot to do," was all Alec answered with a pensive tone.

"What?"

"I have to resume my duties. I assume a lot has gone neglected in the midst of the conflict and with my absence. I have work to do."

Magnus gaped at him, long enough that Alec at least picked up that maybe he had said the wrong thing, but he didn't look like he got what it was. If Magnus had had any emotional reserves and energy left, he would have gotten angry.

Before he could get any reaction out though, they were yet again interrupted by Jace who made it a habit to ruin Magnus's life recently. Izzy was with him, looking long-suffering but happy nonetheless to see her oldest bother awake.

"Alexander! Are you alright?" Jace enquired with a distrustful look towards Magnus who just rolled his eyes.

"I am," Alec answered absentmindedly, still a bit out of it as his eyes traveled from Magnus to his siblings. Convinced enough that Alec was out of danger, Jace turned to Magnus with an angry frown on his face.

“So, can I arrest you now?”

.

Alec wasn't convinced at all that this wasn't just a dream, or the afterlife, so he didn't feel very involved in what was happening around him. He was just happy to look at his siblings, and at Magnus, to bask in the illusion that they were here with him.

Of course Jace had to ruin it.

"What?"

No one answered his interrogation, busy as they were holding an angry staring contest. Until Magnus made a dismissive move that had Jace pulled his sword at him. Alec had a terrible sense of deja-vu.

"Stop it right now. I'm serious," he said sternly, having no patience for Jace's bullshit.

"He almost killed you Alexander."

"I hear that he saved my life actually. What is wrong with you?"

"You jumped up in front of him Alec! This is why warlocks can't be trusted! He used you to protect himself."

It was still hard for Alec to feel connected to anything, so he couldn't really be blamed for bursting out in laughter. It was a bad idea too – not because it pissed the people present off, he couldn’t care less about that at the moment, but because he was reminded immediately that he had been, in fact, shot in the chest with an arrow. His laugh died down in a breathless groan of pain that at least had the merit to divert the other’s attention from their trifle.

"This is the most ridiculous things I've ever heard."

He expected to see Magnus agree with him, but was surprised to see the warlock looking worried and unsure. And he was the one to ask the next question, to Alec's bafflement.

"Why did you do it then?"

Alec could have laughed again if Magnus wasn't completely serious. All three of them were staring at him, and he had a feeling that the question had tortured them the whole time he was asleep.

"I don't... don't you know?" he asked Magnus helplessly because surely he had to know. He couldn't not know, how did that make any sense? Wasn't it obvious?

It wasn't, because Magnus only shook his head. Alec couldn't tell which one of them was the more eager to hear the great explanation as to why Alec had taken an arrow meant for Magnus.

What were they expecting really?

"I didn't think. I just... I...”

He couldn't say it. Not like this, not now. He'd waited all these years, and he'd wait some more. So he looked Magnus in the eyes and simply said, "I told you I couldn't watch you die."

Magnus looked like he'd been punched in the chest and it occurred to Alec that maybe he simply didn't remember. It had been more than ten years. What would their stupid teenage promises amount to now?

"What are you talking about?" Jace asked angrily at the same time Magnus let out a disbelieving "still?" in a shaky breath.

Alec hesitated. He wished his siblings weren’t here for this, and he had to think of what he would tell them. Right now he focused on Magnus.

"I never stopped. It's... nothing changed, for me. I still... Yeah. Still."

He didn’t give Magnus any time to answer that – now wasn’t the time anyway. He turned to Jace, his best scolding face on.

"This is nonsense and you should be ashamed of your behavior. Magnus didn't do anything to me, nor did anyone else. I acted on my own accord as I would have to protect you or Izzy, and there is no point in this seeing that magic saved me anyway. I won't hear anything more on that matter. Is that clear?"

War had not been kind on his determination not to play king on his family. Jace opened his mouth, a protest forming on his tongue.

"Is that clear?" Alec enforced, stopping him before he could get a word out. Jace was upset but he relented with a nasty glance to Magnus. Izzy just looked amused, if mildly worried and very curious.

This outburst was all Alec had in him though, and soon his rigid posture crumbled as he sunk back into his bed, exhausted and worn out. It brought matching expression of worries on all their faces and really, Jace and Magnus were alike in so many aspects, it was no wonder they couldn’t stand each other.

“I’ll rest now if it’s alright with you. I’m feeling a bit…”

He was asleep before he finished the sentence, no doubt making them worried sick.

He’d have to make it up to them, maybe.

.

The world had stopped making sense

Magnus had some certitudes. A lot of them, actually. And at the very top of that long list was the fact that when he was young, he had been foolish and in love, that it had ended tragically, and that there was nothing, ever, that could make it right again. He’d lost Alec. What they had, it was gone, up in flames, never to be salvaged. Alec became king, their path had separated, they were nothing to each other anymore.

He had been convinced of that. Right before the man had taken an arrow meant for him and almost died in the process.

He had been so confused at first that when Jace first accused him of bewitching Alec to protect him, Magnus had honestly had doubts. Maybe he had, unconsciously, maybe his magic had reacted to a threat and thrown Alec in front of him against his will. But as powerful as he was, he wasn’t a child anymore. His magic didn’t escape his control like that, especially not to save his own life. Catarina had accused him often enough of being too careless with his life and wellbeing, back when he was experimenting with his power and she had to patch him up almost weekly.

But how then? Why? He had tortured himself on the matter, pondering, wondering, simply refusing to consider the answer that made the most sense, the one thing he was desperate to avoid thinking about.

Of course Alec had no care for those preoccupations. He had confirmed what Magnus feared as soon as he’d been awake.

_“Nothing changed for me.”_

The words were too unreal for Magnus to wrap his head around them. How was he supposed to believe it? Ten years and a coronation later, how could Alec still…

_“Yeah. Still.”_

They had never said it out loud, back then. They had promised they wouldn’t fall in love, because it was impossible, and Magnus had always known he had made a lousy job at keeping this particular promise, but since they had never said it, he had convinced himself that it was only him. At best it was a teenage crush, something the prince would get over quickly enough. It was as much to comfort himself as to alleviate some of the guilt he felt. He had stayed angry and hateful for weeks, maybe months, before the agony of Ragnor’s death had receded to a painful, constant ache, before he had grown up and realized life wasn’t simple, or easy, and that Alec hadn’t been at fault.

But by the time he had resolved to go back to the forest, Alec had already stopped coming. It had been easy then to convince himself that it didn’t matter, that it was just a foolish mistake of their youth, that it didn’t mean anything. Even if he knew, of course, he knew how it had felt, what power yielded their bound, how strongly they were drawn to each other.

Alec was king, and Magnus was in hiding with the rest of the witches. It was easier to forget all about it.

_“Don’t you know?”_

Alec had never denied it, at least not to himself. It had stayed as obvious and natural to him as it had always been.

He had always been the bravest of the two.

.

When Alec opened his eyes again, they fell on Izzy fixing a chainmail on a chair by the bed.

She hadn’t noticed him waking, so he took a few moments to just look at her. Her nimble fingers were patiently fixing the twisted rings, replacing the ones that were too damaged. After a while she raised her eyes, probably to check on him, and almost dropped her work.

“Alexander! Finally.”

“Hey, Izzy. How are you?”

She rolled her eyes fondly and set aside the chainmail to come closer.

“You really ought to stop asking that as soon as you wake. You’re pissing everyone off.”

“How come?”

She shook her head, probably recognizing a lost cause when she saw one.

“How are you feeling?”

“In pain. I could eat a horse, although I’m not sure it would stay in my stomach. Tired still. Frustrated.”

“Frustrated?”

“I want to get out of here.”

He felt restless, unnerved. The room was dark, only the corner with the bed lit up by a few candles. There wasn’t even the light of torches coming from the window – it had to be quite late.

“I figured you’d want to make up for lost time. I brought you reports and the briefings of the last few weeks, if you’re interested.”

She pointed at his study desk which was disappearing under a frankly impressive amount of papers, letters and maps haphazardly piled on top of each other. She chuckled at his widening eyes.

“Maybe later,” he admitted, defeated.

“Of course.”

“Would you tell me though? Talk to me?”

“Don’t you want to sleep some more?”

“I can’t think of anything I’d want to do less.”

She seemed to understand where he was coming from and set up to talk to him about anything she could think of, from the aftermath of the battle to the gossips of the castle. Alec listened eagerly, fighting against his sleepiness to keep hearing her voice, soothing, and the news, encouraging. They had managed well in his absence and things were looking good, or as good as they could after an attempted putsch and subsequent conflicts.

She told him about Max, something he still had a hard time wrapping his head around. It had never come up before the battle because Alec didn’t want to give anyone the opportunity to say he was just using the witches for his own needs, but as soon as Catarina had heard about the boy, there was no stopping her. His condition was easily treatable, with magic. His life had started again, just like that.

"Of course he immediately took advantage of it. Now instead of spending his time reading in his room, he spends his time reading outside in the garden."

They laughed lightly, although it would still be some time until Alec could do that without hurting. The conversation drifted naturally toward the witches.

“Aren’t you going to ask?”

Izzy smiled at him, quizzical. “About what?”

“About Magnus?”

“Ah. That.”

She looked away, looking guilty.

“Izzy?”

“I… I already knew.”

“What?”

He sat up in surprise and regretted it immediately. This was getting old. Why was he still hurting so much? He lied down, trying to reign on his frustration.

“What are you talking about?”

“Well… Back then you disappeared all the time under Clary and Simon’s nose. She was getting concerned about what you were doing, and she was scared they would be blamed and reprimanded for failing at their duties. I wanted to reassure her, and besides, I was dying of curiosity. So I followed you into the woods.”

Despite it being years ago, despite him being king and magic no longer being a crime, he felt rising inside him the same panic as if they had been discovered by his father back then. He had always kept it so close, hidden, secret, and all this time…

“I lost you, at some point, just as Simon and Clary always did. But I didn’t turn back, I just stayed at the exact same spot, waiting for you to reappear. I guess the place where you were meeting was hidden, but I saw you… part ways.”

Kiss, probably.

“You never said anything,” he stated.

“You didn’t either. I followed you behind your back. I figured if you wanted us to know, you would tell us. But you never did.”

“Did you recognize him, that first time at the meeting?”

“Yes. I persuaded Jace to leave it alone. But I never told him.”

“I… I swore to him, a long time ago, that I wouldn’t tell. Even after things fell apart, I never felt like breaking my words. I also didn’t want you to think I was doing what I was doing, with the magic wielder and the ban, just because of him.”

Izzy shook her head, looking sad, resigned.

“Alexander… why do you believe that being king forbid you from having personal feelings? Even if it was one of your motivations… It’s not a bad thing. You are allowed to have your own opinions and wishes.”

“I am king. I rule for the people, not for myself.”

“You are also a man, brother.”

He looked out the window so he could escape her watchful eyes. He doubted it, sometimes. His father had always ruled according to his own principles, his emotions and ideas, without listening to anyone. Alec had always been scared of doing the same. He had lost sleep over the repelling of the ban, trying to interrogate his own motivations, tracking down any hint of selfish reasoning.

“It doesn’t matter either way. It’s long gone now.”

“Is it though? You took an arrow for him brother. You almost died.”

“My feelings remain the same, I don’t deny it.”

“Then why don’t you do something about it?”

“He doesn’t… want… this, anymore.”

_He doesn’t love, he doesn’t want me, anymore._

“How can you know?”

Alec thought about countless avoided gazes and aborted gestures, about Magnus pulling away, looking scared, lost, wary.

“He liked me as a boy, as just Alec, out there in the wood. I am king now. He doesn’t trust me. And I betrayed him.”

“Shouldn’t you ask him that though? Not everything is always on you.”

“If he seeks me out, I won’t turn him away, but I won’t come after him.”

“And what if he thinks exactly the same?”

Alec sighed deeply. This wasn’t a problem that could be solved just like that, and he didn’t like things he couldn’t control, couldn’t fix.

“Let’s talk about all this paperwork, shall we?”

She accepted the change of discussion, even if he had no doubt she’d come back to it eventually.

.

Alec was finally able to sleep and stay awake at regular hours, and he could even keep down food as long as he didn’t stuff his face, but he still couldn’t take more than a few steps out of his bed without exhausting himself and awakening general pain. Because he was lucky like that, the arrow had been charged with magic and had wrecked his body enough that it would probably take months for him to be fully recovered.

That didn’t stop the diplomatic procession to begin.

He didn’t have the luxury of waiting, and everyone was of course eager to present their wishes of well-being and seeing for themselves in what shape the king truly was. Between councils, updates on what he had missed and sitting through courtesy visits, he spent his days talking to people and feeling perfectly stupid, bedridden and weak in front of officials and strangers. He couldn’t wait to get out of that room.

Someone knocked on the door again and he was awfully tempted to just send them to hell, but the door opened on Catarina, and he relaxed minutely. At least she wasn’t here to talk his ear off on trivial matters – or so he hoped.

“I came to check up on you and your condition, but I can come back later if you wish,” she said with that gentle, soft voice of hers. He wondered if she infused it with some kind of magic – he always felt immediately more at peace when he heard it.

“It’s alright. Please come in.”

There was a lingering awkwardness between them that he didn’t know how to deal with. She took care of his injuries, touched and probed at him, but she was still reserved toward him. At the same time, she was close to Magnus, and the way she looked at him sometimes made him very aware of that fact.

“Sorry it’s me again today,” she commented lightly. “Magnus is… busy.”

He didn’t miss the hesitation, nor the hint of exasperation in her voice, and he knew it was a lie. He hadn’t seen Magnus again since the second time he’d been awake. Catarina had been the one to take care of his convalescence, Magnus always inexplicably busy, out of the castle or even out of town.

“If he doesn’t want to see me, I won’t force him. There’s no need for excuses.”

Catarina cast him a scrutinizing look that had him fighting the urge to hide. He always had the impression that she could read him like an open book.

“You two really deserve each other,” she sighed, hands on his chest to change his bandages. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that Magnus wasn’t the one to do it.

“Did you talk to my sister?” he asked playfully.

“Maybe I did,” she answered in kind, a gentle smile softening her worried expression. “I’ll tell him to come see you. I’ll drag him here if I have to.”

“It’s not necessary.”

“Sir. I think it is.”

She looked stern all of the sudden, firm and determined, and he spared a sympathetic thought for Magnus, who would have to deal with this. She wouldn’t budge, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted her to.

“Thank you.” He did want to see Magnus. If only because… well, he simply missed him. Seeing him would be enough. Alec wasn’t demanding.

“If he doesn’t come,” she said after working a few moments in silence, “it’s because he doesn’t think you want to see him.”

“I always want to,” he said without thinking. She looked surprised and he avoided her gaze, blushing lightly. He needed to control his running mouth better. She chuckled.

“How is he?” he asked, unable and unwilling to resist enquiring.

“Fine, better. He exhausted himself beyond his limits, but he’s recovering just fine.

“I would like to at least apologize. It’s my fault he’s in that state.”

“Please don’t start playing the blame game with him. You won’t see an end to it.”

“What?”

“He’s eaten away by guilt, over what happened to you.”

“It was my choice.”

“And it was his to put all his power and energy into saving you. You have to get past this.”

He shrugged helplessly. She wasn’t wrong, but it was easier said than done. He wanted Magnus safe, sound and happy, wanted to see him smile, laugh, talk with his hand gesturing wildly like he used to.

“It’s beautiful.”

Alec jolted out of his thoughts. “What?”

“I’m sorry,” she said, looking guilty. “I’m an empath, I can get in tune with other people’s feelings, especially if they are… so strong, and pure. What you feel for him, it’s beautiful.”

He ducked his head, embarrassed.

“Did he tell you about it?”

“Only vaguely, but I got the idea, from his own emotions. And the first time we came, when you saw him…”

She let the sentence hang, but he could easily picture what she was talking about.

“You have no idea… Oh well, I guess you do. How it felt to see him again. I had no way of knowing if he was alive or dead, if he had left, if he was safe. He didn’t have the same worry – after all, had something happened to me, he would have known right away. But I was clueless. I could only hope, and then…”

It was humiliating, to think that she had been privy to such a moment, that it had been strong enough that she had felt it, but it wasn’t surprising.

“Knowing is enough, to me. If he’s safe, out of harm, and happy… it’s enough.”

“Have you ever been told that you should be more selfish?”

“Often, from my sister.”

He was aware of it at least, even if he couldn’t do much about it. Izzy longed for the day when he would put his needs above those of everyone else, but she didn’t have much hope.

“You’re healing up nicely,” she said, tactfully leaving the conversation behind. “I think by next week you’ll be clear to get out of bed.”

“I can’t wait.”

.

“You have to talk to him.”

Magnus let go of the glass jar he was holding and only his magic and quick reflexes prevented it from shattering on the ground and spilling tree sap all over the wooden floor. He turned an accusing glare at Catarina, but hers was far stronger.

“What are you talking about?”

“He’s waiting.”

“He’s not.”

“He told me.”

He went back to his task, aligning the jars and bottles on the shelves of the shop with manic precision, the way Ragnor had always done. How had the man kept the shop so well organized while his living quarters were an unescapable clutter would forever remain a great mystery to all.

“Can’t you leave it alone?” he asked, knowing full well there was no way she would.

“It has to stop Magnus. Go talk to him. What are you afraid of?”

He was going to tell her off but something stopped him. She meant well, but she didn’t know. She couldn’t understand.

“I’m afraid he’ll hate me.”

“He won’t.”

“You don’t know what happened between us. I hurt him.”

“You’re hurting him now. Don’t you think it’s time, Magnus? To stop making penance, and start making amend?”

Was Alec really suffering from his behavior? That was the last thing Magnus wanted. And yet he wasn’t sure if he was able to face him.

He was too angry.

.

The worst part of this was probably that Alec didn’t even get it.

He didn’t get why they were trying to stop him from getting up and resuming his duties. He didn’t know why they looked at him with sad, concerned eyes, why they got so haunted when they stared at the bandages covering his chest.

He certainly didn’t get why Magnus was angry with him.

Because he didn’t think he had done anything wrong. He had no regrets. He would do it all over again if need be.

Magnus couldn’t bear that, and Alec didn’t understand.

“Isabelle, would you please stop fussing over me? I am fine. Leave me alone.”

Magnus had been wondering who, between himself and the king’s sister would snap at him first. Judging by the icy silence that descended over the room, it seemed like it was going to be her.

“I could murder you right now you know that?”

They hadn’t noticed Magus hovering at the door – he retreated slowly to the corridor in order not to be seen, but he stayed close enough to hear what they were saying. He could imagine Alec confused and mildly offended face. How could he be so dense was beyond them all.

“What? Why?”

“Because you’re the worst idiot this world has ever seen! Is it so hard for you to show the bare minimum of consideration and understanding for our feelings?”

“What are you talking about…”

“YOU COULD HAVE DIED. Do you get that? Died! For days, for _days_ we didn’t know if you would make it. You would have been dead Alexander, six feet underground, gone for good? We would have been left without you.”

“Succession is not a problem anymore you know.”

“Of for the love of…”

Her voice broke in a frustrated sob.

“Why would you even say that? I’m your sister. Do you think I care about that? Do you think that’s what it is about? You being king? So what, you have an heir so you’re disposable? How can you even say such things?”

“I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“I give up, you’re hopeless. I have to get out of here or I’m going to strangle you. Stay in your fucking bed.”

And with that, she made quite the dramatic exit and almost ran straight into Magnus. Her eyes were shining and her fists were tightly closed, anger, frustration and worry battling each other in her body.

“You try and talk some sense into him, I’m done,” she snarled before storming away. He entered the room.

Alec had left his bed, of course he had, but he wasn’t sitting at his desk and bent over some paper like Magnus had assumed. He was leaning on the frame of the window, looking at what was happening in the courtyard. He looked far better now but he still tired easily, and the people around him fought in turn to keep him from overexerting himself. He found it most annoying.

Alec liked to post himself there when he was taking a break and needed to think. Magnus joined him.

“I don’t get her.”

“I know. That’s the problem.”

“Please, not you, too.”

Magnus made an effort to keep his rising temper in check.

“Alec. You know they would mourn you if you were gone, right? They would be devastated. They would miss you terribly.”

The man frowned, clearly confused by this line of questioning. “I guess they would, for a while.”

“They would be hurt if you disappeared,” Magnus insisted, feeling that Alec was missing the point. “They love and care about you, they want you to be okay. They’re trying to look after you. So that you don’t fade away.”

“I understand that. But we are at war and I’m the king. That’s just how things are, it’s not my fault.”

"You can't blame us for trying to help you with this though. You’re only human. You can’t shoulder it all.”

Alec’s frown deepened as if Magnus had insulted him.

“I damn well can and I will if I want to.”

"Now you just sound petty."

“Why is she angry with me? It’s not like I got stabbed on purpose.”

They would go back to that, Magnus thought, because he kind of did.

“It’s not about that. She’s angry that you refuse to take better care of yourself.”

Alec pouted. It was strangely endearing to note that he could be as childish as he was when he was younger.

“I know that they worry about me but I… I can’t afford to stay idle. I don’t mean to hurt them even more than I already did, but they know better. I can’t appear weak and there is so much to do.”

Alec really, truly didn’t get it. He didn’t get why they were on edge. He didn’t know.

“Why can’t you just take care of yourself?”

“I am, just…”

“You know, what Isabelle can’t stomach is how little you seem to care about your own life.”

It was easier to talk about the girl’s feeling than his own. They were similar enough anyway.

“It’s not that… that I don’t care,” Alec said, uncertain, sensing Magnus was losing his calm rapidly. “But there are more… important… things?”

At least he had the good sense of looking unsure about it.

“Like what exactly?”

“Like…”

Alec didn’t have an answer. Of course he didn’t, since he valued approximately everything more than himself. And he wondered why he angered the people who cared about him.

“Did you need something?” Alec asked. Magnus stared at him blankly. Was that… was that the least subtle change of conversation in the history of humankind? Sometimes he was convinced that Alexander the diplomat king and Alec the idiot mess were two distinct people.

“We need to talk,” he said patiently. Alec made a face.

“Do we have to?”

Magnus wanted to scream.

“You don’t think so?”

Alec shrugged, but he must have read something on Magnus’s face because he quickly amended. “I… guess?”

“For crying out loud Alec, you…”

Magnus was cut abruptly by Alec’s hands which came to rest around his neck in a desperate attempt to soothe him. Magnus shivered, because his hands were cold, not because of a touch he’d been craving for years. Alec looked dead serious all of the sudden, staring at Magnus with that unsettling focus of his. He had to bent a little to look at Magnus in the eyes – he had gotten absurdly tall over the years.

“I couldn’t watch you die, Magnus,” he said softly, his tone suggesting that it should have been obvious.

“That’s my line,” Magnus answered with a strangled voice. Alec chuckled lightly.

“I’m sorry for worrying you all. Truly, I am. But I don’t regret anything.”

“I do. I do. We never even talked. We didn’t say a thing, and you still…”

“I would do it again. I would save you every time.”

“I still owed you for the last time.”

It was the closest they had ever been to talking about the elephant in the room, the subject they had carefully ignored, as they stayed purposefully vague about what had happened between them.

“I would save you every time,” Alec repeated.

“But why, how? After what happened, what I told you…”

“I never hold it against you. You were hurting and I couldn’t help.”

“It wasn’t your fault. I knew it, and still…”

“We were only young Magnus. It’s not a crime.”

“Isn’t it?”

Wasn’t it, a crime? To be young and foolish, to be so careless, so ignorant?

“I missed you so much, Alec.”

Alec looked surprised, to Magnus’s puzzlement. Surely that had to be obvious, right?

“You mean… you still…”

It occurred to Magnus then, in a bright flash of self-revelation, that Alec didn’t know about that either. Alec had poured his heart out in front of witnesses, but Magnus hadn’t answered, hadn’t said a thing. That… that idiot still doubted.

“We’re such fools,” Magnus muttered mostly to himself. He breached the distance between them in one swift motion.

It felt like coming home.

Magnus had realized one day that he didn’t remember their last kiss. It wasn’t surprising – at the time they had separated after another encounter like they always did, they couldn’t have known what tragedy was coming their way, how badly the next time they would see each other would go. He had despaired that he would never get to kiss the boy again and that he couldn’t even recall the last time he had.

It didn’t matter now.

Alec’s hands were still cupping his neck. His own clung to Alec’s shirt at his sides and he pressed forward so that maybe he could disappear into his embrace and make a home there. All the tension accumulated, all the anger and fear, the pain and the regrets, it was all fading away, dissolving into the heat of their bodies finally crashing again.

“Don’t ever do that again Alec,” Magnus mumbled against his lips.

“What, kiss you?” Alec joked. Magnus was not amused.

“Risk your life like that. I’m serious. You can’t do that to me.”

Alec moved backward so that their eyes could meet. He looked apologetic but also determined, unyielding. “You know I can’t promise you that.”

Magnus sighed heavily and let his forehead fall against Alec’s chest. “Yeah. I know.”

Alec wrapped his arms tightly around him and they took the time to just enjoy this, for a little while.

.

Alec suddenly found a very useful purpose to his injuries and abused the excuses that he was tired and needed to rest to sneak around with Magnus. Magnus hadn’t had that much fun in years. They were both terribly busy and couldn’t meet that often but it was still more than they use to have when they were young. He would have felt bad for stealing Alec away from his duties like that, but he had decided that they both deserved it.

Life resumed it’s normal course, as much as it could. Alec welcomed the witches at the Council and in his Court, this time for purely diplomatic reasons now that war was all but a distant memory. Jace had faced down Morgenstern in an altercation a few towns over, and no one could confirm his story that he had killed the man purely on self-defense, but no one really cared either. It was one less thing to worry about, and Magnus would take any of those, considering how little sleep Alec was getting already.

Alec didn’t tell his siblings about Magnus, and Magnus didn’t spell it out to his friends either. Izzy and Catarina probably knew anyway, but they respected their privacy, as they always had. There was no real reason for it, they just felt like keeping this to himself for a while longer. As long as no one knew, their relationship concerned only Alec and Magnus, not King Alexander and High Warlock Magnus Bane, and they would keep it this way as long as they could.

Magnus came by the castle often enough on council duty, and Alec had discovered a perfectly good excuse to go downtown himself to visit him – Max was definitely and irrevocably in love with the witches.

Magnus understood that the boy had always shown interest in their craft, and now that there was neither law nor his health in his way, he could express it fully. Meaning he could hang around Magnus’s shop all day and go with Catarina on her nursing tours around town. He was even picking some things up, according to her friends. It was no surprise that his latent magical ability hadn’t been discovered until now, considering his childhood. There was no stopping him now. Magnus liked the teenager. He was full of life and curiosity and didn’t have a single mean bone in his body. After years confined to his room, the whole world was a wonder to him, and Magnus found his enthusiasm and energy very refreshing.

Alec and Max’s frequent trips to town gave Jace headaches but it’s not like he was going to refuse his younger brother anything. He just had Simon and Clary stalking them at all times, recognized that Magnus was indeed more than capable of protecting them both, and had to be content with that. He was the only one Magnus really worried about when it came to his relationship with Alec. They were polite with each other but there were few chances that they would ever truly get along. The boy was just too annoying.

So Magnus would enjoy hiding from that mother hen for as long as he could.

At least, that was the plan, until one day in the beginning of spring, the door to Alec’s room burst open as they were making out by the window.

“Alexander, we need to…”

Magnus made to get away but Alec tightened his grip just enough to keep him in place. He turned an annoyed expression towards Jace who was choking on his breath by the door.

“Can it wait a little?” he asked, unfazed, as if his brother hadn’t just walked in on him making out with a witch in his study.

“Yeah,” Jace said, disgruntled, after a brief moment where he probably debated whether to make a scene or not. He slammed the door shut hard enough to tip an empty inkbottle on a nearby shelf.

“You’re mean to him,” Magnus chastised lightly.

“He has the worst timing,” Alec answered, fighting a smile. He grew serious again when he looked back at Magnus. “Is… Is this okay though?”

“What?”

“He’s going to talk. Worse, he’s going to demand some kind of explanation.”

“And what will you say to him?”

It’s when he was embarrassed that Alec looked the most like the boy he once was.

“I was thinking of telling him that this is all good and proper courtship. If… if you agree to it.”

Count on Alec to do it the noble way.

“You know you don’t need to court me. I’m already all yours.”

For some reason, it sounded much more heartfelt than he had intended. Alec’s answer was no less serious, even if he was steadily blushing more and more.

“I still do.”

Magnus didn’t know what to answer to that, so he elected to kiss him again instead.

.

Alec knew that sooner or later his siblings would ambush him, but he did his best to avoid them anyway.

Izzy had more or less given up on lecturing him, stating that since he was happy for once, she would let him have some peace. Max was just ecstatic, having grown very fond of Magnus, even if he still preferred Catarina, to the man’s great dismay. The boy insisted he already knew, but seeing how he was gossiping about it now, it was hard to believe he had kept it to himself until then.

As for Jace, he wasn’t getting over it at all.

“You won’t get away this time!”

Alec raised his head from the reports he was pouring over to cast a confused look at Jace and Izzy blocking the door of his study. Magnus was sitting on one of the armchairs, comparing a list of magical items requested by some witches, to the list of supplies he already had in stock.

Jace caste them a suspicious glance, as if he’d been expecting to find them all over each other (again). They were actually working for once, and on a trend too. The interruption was annoying.

“What do you want Jace?” Alec sighed, deciding to play dumb just to rile him up. He could be petty and stubborn too.

“I want you to explain this,” Jace answered, pointing at Alec and Magnus alternately.

“Well you see, when two people like each other very much…”

“Don’t mock me Alexander. I want to know where that came from and what the hell you are thinking!”

Alec stood up, his good mood evaporating. Izzy had the good sense to stay back as he walked over to Jace, a displeased look on his face.

“Don’t talk to me like that. And I don’t owe you a thing. What relationship I engage into is none of your damn business.”

Jace was taken aback by the sudden change of tone, but he wasn’t ready to let it go.

“You… you can’t blame us for being concerned.”

“Don’t drag me into this,” Izzy chipped by his side. Jace ignored her.

“We know nothing about him or his intentions, how can you just trust him like that?”

“I told you we met a long time ago, and if you weren’t such an asshole I would have just told you that story.”

“So it’s my fault now? He’s a witch!”

“Is that the best you can do?”

“I am in charge of your safety, _Sir_ , excuse me if I’m a little concerned about who gets into the king’s pants!”

“I’m touched by your solicitude,” Alec snarled sarcastically. “I know you already had him checked anyway, and you didn’t find anything compromising or you would be dangling it to my face already. So what’s the problem then? Other than you not liking him?”

“That’s not… it doesn’t… He’s just a commoner!”

Now that was low. Jace seemed to sense he had said something stupid, but before he could take it back, Alec, who was getting fed up with the conversation, let his anger talk for him and said without thinking, “well he won’t be once I’m married to him.”

A sudden and very awkward silence fell over the room. Alec was frozen in place, clinging to the hope that maybe Magnus had somehow left the room during their argument and wasn’t there anymore. He didn’t dare turn toward him to confirm it.

“I… I mean, it’s…”

He decided that it was better if he just stopped talking.

“You’re not serious right?” Jace asked, incredulous. And maybe the timing was terrible and it was the worst possible way of doing this, but Alec couldn’t take back those words either. It certainly wasn’t how this was supposed to happen, but it wasn’t a lie either. It wasn’t in his habit to shy away from the truth. So he stood a little taller and glared at Jace, determined, daring.

“I am. Even if we’re not there yet… I am.”

He turned to face Magnus then, because it was about them after all. The man was obviously taken aback, but he didn’t look like he wanted to run away. That was a win. Alec opened his mouth, but he couldn’t find anything to say. Magnus beat him to it.

“Why are you so adamant on making me cry?”

They smiled dumbly at each other, their audience forgotten. Alec reached out to take Magnus’s hand and used it to pull him into his embrace.

“What have I done,” Jace lamented. Izzy only laughed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fiou, I'm glad that's over. You can see me on [tumblr](http://inrainbowz.tumblr.com) and I'm also doing Inkotber [here](http://inraindrawz.tumblr.com). You can suggest or prompt on the next AU you would like to see, although I don't guarantee it'll come anytime soon... (I know I promised the Arranged Marriage AU a looong time ago and I swear I'm on it). Have a nice day!

**Author's Note:**

> Just so you know, I'm working on the Forced Marriage AU and Fictionnal Character Coming To Life For A Day AU for now. You can request an AU you'd like to see on my [tumblr](http://inrainbowz.tumblr.com). It doesn't have to be from the list, just hit me up. Although it may take a while to come. 
> 
> Thank you for reading, don't fortget to comment! Love.


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